MK vs DC: When Fighting Stops Love Begins
by sitebender
Summary: After Dark Kahn has been vanquished, this follows Superman as he deals with others finding crossover love between the Mortal Kombat and DC universes. Full of quirky humor, unexpected but not random comedy, downright hilarity and a few great fights.
1. Chapter 1: Superman

CHAPTER 1: SUPERMAN

After the world was safe from Darkside, Shao Kahn and their unholy love child known as Dark Kahn, Superman thought about his priorities. The caped superhero sat atop of the Daily Planet with his knuckle under his chin and his elbow propped up on his knee.

Even with Dark Kahn defeated, Earth was still busy messing itself up with crime, terror, war and anger. Superman could hear everything with his super hearing. They were the cries of women, babies and men that pleaded for help. Superman was annoyed and thought to himself, "Can't mankind let me have some peace?"

He realized as he sat there, "Has the Rage changed me somehow? I use to spend my lunchour saving people." The Rage was a powerful magic that had overtaken the minds of the majority of people in the universe and forced them to act far different than they normally would. It was aptly named, because it clouded judgment and sent many of its victims into a willingness to fight against one another. No one was immune to the effects, not even Superman.

Then he heard a plea from the only mortal that mattered to him. It came from the plain and aging harpy that he called, "Lois?" This was Clark Kent's girlfriend of decades. While Clark remained the same age and looks, this out of shape reporter named Lois aged and she had a few grey hairs and crows feet next to her dull brown eyes.

The super hero perked up, his girlfriend needed him. He heard her scratchy smoker's voice call out, "Super Maaan! Where are you Super Maaan?" Most people only called him Superman, but when she bellowed his name, the screechy ugly voice like nails on a chalkboard always extended the word man. No wonder he could always isolate her voice so well, because it was nails on chalkboard.

This was the woman that cheated on him with his alter ego, but they had both come to terms with that. After a year of fighting and smarmy comments, his pussified alter ego Clark Kent gave in and let her have her way that he was wrong for having two personalities.

He bolted from his place high atop the Daily Planet and flew faster than a speeding bullet to her high rise apartment in Metropolis. After hurtling himself, he came to a graceful stop and touched onto the balcony with his toes and stepped in where he saw her screaming, "Where have you been?"

Superman asked, "What seems to be the problem Lois?" She stood there very pregnant, with a large belly, grey streaks in her hair with a cigarette in her hand.

Lois bellowed, "Well, it's about time Clark! I could have been being crushed in my car or needed the refrigerator moved!"

"When I'm in the suit," Superman started to say, but Lois cut him off, "Oh I know. You're Superman. Call you Superman. Well Clarky, don't tell me what to do. You're just lucky I haven't reported on your secret identity yet. Not that anyone would believe me."

Superman popped his eyebrows up for a second and uttered, "Point taken." The man of steel has always been spineless around the love of his life Lois Lane.

Superman looked at her big belly and asked, "So when are you due?"

She waddled past him and said, "Two weeks from now. This little bundle was just as expected as the last."

"Smoking isn't good for the baby," said Superman.

Lois ignored him and muttered to herself, "At least this time I know who the father is this time." Then she asked, "Guess who called me today?"

He wondered with good nature, "The Daily Planet? Do they want you back? You really are quite a good reporter, underrated in a way." The man of steel stammered in the way that he always did. He was charmingly befuddled around Lois Lane.

"Oh stop sucking up Clarky; I'm still on maternity leave," she spewed, before she said, "Wonder Woman called me and told me all about what you two have been doing."

Superman looked as if he had something to tell her in his defense, but the love of his life stopped him. Lois wondered, "It wasn't just the universes that were merging was it?" She folded her arms and gave him an evil eye as she said, "I'm leaving you."

He wondered, "You're the one judging me for what I did with Wonder Woman?" Then with a gesture to the refrigerator, Superman commented, "You're married." On the refrigerator were photos of Lois's charming husband and her along with their seven year old son. On the walls were pictures of Lois and her husband. On the entertainment were the same photos. The pictures were everywhere. Each photo had her husband smiling with a wonderful toothy grin, while Lois had a demure smile.

She retorted, "If you didn't take off seven years ago to that Krypton of yours would have married you and now we'd have to go through a great big divorce all because of that Wonder Whore."

"But Lois," he said, "We're just..."

Lois butted in, "I don't want to hear it! Here is a news flash for you reporter. Dark Kahn is gone, your worst enemy, Lex Luther a changed man now and investing in green companies instead of committing crimes against humanity. I think my Pulitzer Prize said it best, 'The world doesn't need Superman.'" She then jammed her finger on his steel chest and said, "And either do I!"

He looked down to her finger that caressed the Superman logo of an S on his chest. He gave a little smirk and asked, "That's why you called me here? Has anyone told you the story of the boy who cried wolf?"

He walked to the balcony and leapt into the air and flew away. Lois was left cursing, "Go to your Wonder Whore and don't ever come back!" Her fist was in the air and her teeth showed with anger. When she lowered her hand she folded her arms and took a puff from her cigarette. Then she muttered, "You should have used more X-ray vision on me!" Then she stomped her foot and screeched, "I wouldn't be stuck in a loveless marriage because I got pregnant."

Later that day, Superman met his good friend Captain Marvel. The two of them looked like twins. Superman wore a blue bodysuit with red boots, a red cape and red underwear. Meanwhile, Captain Marvel had a red bodysuit with white boots and a matching white cape with gold trim. Superman had a red S for a logo on his chest while Captain Marvel had a golden lightning volt across his chest.

They looked like clones. Square chins, dashing good looks that made women in the 1920s wet themselves. Raven black hair and piercing blue eyes. Superman's were literally more piercing, because they could beam lasers known as heat vision. With his heat vision, he could pierce through almost anything in only a matter of time. He had complete control of his heat vision and could either boil water or make surgical cuts with laser like precision. It could easily cut through a steel wall like the proverbial hot knife through butter.

The two of them met with a hand shake and an embrace so strong it would have killed a normal man. Captain Marvel with his dinky waist length cape asked, "Greetings Superman, how do you fair this day?"

Beneath them was Metropolis, honking car horns and anger in the streets. This was their view from high above on a balcony for lunch. There was no table set up, just a railing for them to bask in the sun.

"Lois," is all Superman had to say for Captain Marvel to understand.

Captain Marvel boldly wondered, "Did she find out about you and Princess Diana on the side?"

"She's a reporter," said the man of steel, "I couldn't hide it forever." He looked out over the city and with one arm folded and the other beneath his chin, he pondered, "But why do I still love Lois and want her back?"

Captain Marvel gave a gesture with his hands to simmer down the super hero, "The way I see it, you protect mortals and like to feel needed. What man doesn't my friend? Let me put it this way, no other woman gets herself into more trouble than Lois Lane. I would have let her die back in the seventies when her looks started fading, but no, you're loyal to the end."

"If I'm so loyal," said Superman, before he awkwardly added, "Then why did I get busy with Diana?"

"Because you keep your loyalty," said Captain Marvel, "While making new allies to be loyal to. If you weren't loyal, you would have abandon Lois a long time ago."

Superman tried to abandon Marvel's thought, "I like the haze that you see the world through."

Captain Marvel continued, "Now that Lois knows, I think you know what its time for." He then added with a smile as he looked over the city, "You couldn't even have sex with Lois unless you became mortal."

Superman touched his shoulder and gave an affirmative nod, "You're right my friend, I am better off without Lois." With that said Superman took off into the sky once again, "But I don't like being dumped, it leaves me with an empty hole inside."

Captain Marvel screamed out, "Don't go too far and make her kid an orphan!"

The man of steel turned around for a brief moment to say, "I couldn't do that!"

Five minutes later, Superman landed at Lois's expensive Metropolis apartment once more with determination on his face. Instead of gently landing he crashed through the balcony wall and entered her apartment without knocking.

Lois put down her afternoon glass of wine and looked at him with an angry stare. She blurted from her chair, "I knew you'd be back to beg for me Clark."

"Lois," he said, only to hear, "Yeah?" He then uttered, "How could you breakup with me for cheating when you're the cheater?"

She blurted, "What? Cheating is sex in my book Clarky. I never cheated on my husband." She stood up and waddled toward him, "You weren't good enough anyway."

Superman looked around to the apartment and leaned in his head and bobbled it in wonder, "Not good enough?"

She gave a broad gesture and said, "Look at this place Clark." Then she looked at him, "It's magnificent!" She then blurted, "Superman never gave me a fifty-two inch television or a high rise apartment." With her finger in his chest, she added, "He only gave me lies about who he really was and sorry Lois, I gotta go save a school bus from falling off a bridge."

"I've never seen you like this," said Superman only to hear Lois mock, "Maybe it's the Rage!"

The man of steel quipped, "Or maybe it's the pregnancy."

Lois told him, "You won't have a job by morning jerk."

"I can get a new job," retorted Superman.

Lois was belligerent, "Doing what? You have a farm boy education. If it weren't for the Daily Planet giving you a job you would have been a criminal a long time ago with Lex."

"This is getting too ugly for me," uttered Superman, "I'm going to leave now."

"Fine, go, I told you not to come back in the first place," she yelled, "There's plenty of super heroes around here. Man of steel? Ha! I'll find me a man of adamantium!"

Superman went to the balcony to leave, but Lois ran to stop him. She tried to apologize, "I'm sorry Clark, don't leave angry. I didn't mean that, it's this damn pregnancy. Wild mood swings."

As Superman began to slowly take flight he quipped, "You just want me to save you, whenever you get yourself into trouble."

Lois then clung to his red boot that was at her waist level. She took hold of it, and Superman looked down to her, but then her hand slipped and she fell. Her body plummeted all the way down to the street below. On the way down, she screeched, "Super maaan!"

The superhero let out a sigh and rolled his eyes before he dove to her aide, but instead of saving her, he used his heat vision to laser through her stomach. Inside was the unborn fetus of Lois who was more than eight months pregnant. He grabbed the fetus out just before Lois slammed into the ground.

Superman landed gently on the pavement next to Lois's bloody body that left a huge spider web of cracks in the street. He uttered with his strong voice, "Now that's what I call a Babality."

Everyone that saw came running and crowded around Superman. Several people asked him for an autograph, but the man of steel said to one blonde woman, "I'll do ya one better. Here, have this baby instead."

The beautiful blonde asked with a big white tooth grin, "Is it yours?"

"Chances are its not," proclaimed the superhero. Camera phones took photos of Superman as he gave the newborn to the chipper blonde. Then Superman uttered, "Abortion is wrong."

A ten year old boy happily asked, "Even in the case of rape?"

Superman grinned and cheerfully said, "A child should never be punished for the wrong doing of a parent." He then messed up the boy's hair and said, "That's why I saved this baby today." The headline that night read, "Superman saves newborn!"


	2. Chapter 2: Wonder Woman

CHAPTER 2: WONDER WOMAN

Meanwhile, on the Amazonian island of Themyscira, Princess Diana was in her Greek like palace. Pristine white columns lined the outside entrance with women warriors in armor guarding the steps. Wonder Woman lounged around eating grapes on a red sofa. She would throw the green grapes into the air and try to catch them with her mouth.

She was everything a man from the 1950s could want. Strong features, a bold body with knee high red boots and an excessive bosom held in place by a golden breastplate. In her hair was a golden tiara and at her hip was a lasso of truth. Her blue eyes and lips looked strong and she was everything that a weak man could look up to. This was Princess Diana.

Superman gently landed on the ground in front of her palace. There were fountains, reflecting ponds and luscious plant life and women around. Superman greeted her guards with a "Hello."

From within their golden helmets, the guards greeted him, "Good day to you Kellog."

"Its," he began to say; "Well it's whatever you want it to be." It was less a tactic of charm, more a tender passive trait that the man of steel had within him.

Superman gently lifted his body into the air and hovered up the steps to the top. He then entered the palace which left the two guards to wonder, "Should we have told him?" The other guard replied, "He will find out soon enough."

Inside of the palace, Superman found potted flowers and used his laser like heat vision to cut the stems. He now had flowers to give to Princess Diana, who stood behind him. She startled him, "Kal-El! What a surprise!"

He turned around and bumped into the tall priceless vase he had just taken the flowers from. The white stone vase began to tip and tilt before it tumbled over and shattered.

Superman looked behind him and then to Wonder Woman, where he then told her, "I can circle the Earth so fast that we go back in time so I can stop that from ever happening."

Wonder Woman walked up to him and caressed his red logo as she told him, "I'm sure you can." She then snuck her finger and made a trail down his chest across his stomach, before he added, "But there's something I need to talk about."

Superman gave her the pink flowers that he had just taken and gave them to her, "I need to tell you something too Diana."

She took the flowers with a simple smile and said, "Thank you my dear."

"Well," he said as he cleared his throat, "We've seen each other a lot lately with the whole universe in jeopardy and I came to know you much better than I've ever known you before."

With the flowers in her hand, she gave them a smell and glanced back to Superman's beautiful blue eyes, "I doubt that we could have known each other much better." There was almost a laugh from her strong jaw.

"I meant that I knew what's more in here," Superman said with a pointed finger to her head and then he lowered it to her heart.

She asked, "Where is your finger going Kal-El?"

"Its not where mine is going," stated the man of steel, "It is where yours is going." He presented his hand to take hers and said, "Here give me your hand."

Diana gave him her hand and Superman fell to a single knee. The guards in the room began to swoon. One of the helmeted guards was getting warm; she began to fan herself as she got misty. The Amazonians were full of glee.

Superman then slid a golden ring on her finger with a diamond the size of a fist.

The princess looked at the comically enormous diamond and said, "Oh Kal-El," she then added, "It looks fake."

"A diamond that large would never exist," said the superhero, "So I made it from coal with the pressure of my mighty hands." He had taken the time out earlier to fly to Africa and find her the biggest lump of coal to create a diamond larger than a golf ball.

Wonder Woman grew misty and wiped a tear from her eye with the knuckles that held the flowers. Then she commented, "It's too big and it's hurting me."

Superman looked up at her with his broad chin and a smile before he shook his head. "I won't say it," he told her. Instead, he squint his eyes and with his heat vision he cut the diamond to a smaller size. Then he asked her, "Is that better?"

"It is better," she replied, "Albeit less valuable now." She was still having a difficult time with her emotions. Wonder Woman continued, "Even less value doesn't make it any less priceless to me."

"After doing a lot of soul searching," the man of steel told her, "You're the one Diana. I want us to be together forever."

The crowd of guards hooted and hollered more than ladies night at a strip club. Diana swooned, before she composed herself. She then let out a sigh and stated, "I'd love to, but I don't feel the same as you."

"You were right," she started to say, "I learned a lot about you when we were together at the end of the universe. You were so consumed with the Rage. It brought us all to the brink of death and people show their true colors when they're about to die. I've never seen you that angry before Kal-El and quite honestly it scared me. I can't be with a man like that."

Superman rose to his feet and towered over her. His brow angered as he asked, "What?" He boldly told her, "Then I will fly so fast that I go back in time to prevent the universes from merging."

"No," she said, "Don't use your powers. They really don't impress me."

Superman was lost in his thoughts and he ruffled his hair as he uttered, "I don't understand."

"You were nice," said Wonder Woman, "Earth men don't do it for me, and you were the only man not from Earth, so you were nice for a while. You were the jackhammer to my pavement; the fist of justice to my bad girl body; the flagpole of steel to my..."

"But I'm Superman," he said. He seemed full of himself, perhaps it was the after effects of the Rage that had consumed his body or maybe the man of steel was turning confidence into arrogance.

"I know," she told him as she tried to comfort him with her caress, "But as the Earth merged with Outworld, I realized it's not Earth men, its men."

He wondered with a smiling face, "Then you're?"

She dropped her hand and cocked her head with an upset expression. Diana angrily asked, "Do you really think I'm a lesbian?"

Superman sort of shrugged his shoulders with his hands in the air, "I don't know Diana, I look around here and I see more bare chested women than a bordello. Well that and you are a very strong woman." From the side there were two women bathing in a fountain with giggles.

"No," she abruptly ended his thought, "I'm not like that."

"Until you've tried it," he commented.

"I have," she said, "And I'm not. That's just a way to tide myself over because..." She stopped herself and said, "No, never mind." With that said she began to walk away as she spoke, "You're just a man and I'm with a god now."

Superman wondered, "You're a nun?"

With a sigh, Wonder Woman uttered, "Hardly. He's a god Kal-El and because he can't die, so his values didn't waver from the Rage."

"Wait," he said with a pause and a query, "You're seeing Raiden?"

She turned around and laughed, "Yes Raiden. He lets me feel the difference between a man and a god."

Superman shook his head and uttered, "This isn't happening!"

Diana then told him, "Go run back to Lois like you always do. She needs you more than I do."

"I can't," exclaimed the man of steel.

"Aw Kal-El, sure you can," uttered Wonder Woman, "Just wait until she's about to get killed and ride in on your white horse."

Raiden then walks into the main hall of the palace to join the arguing superheroes. He got their attention when he said, "Mortals, they are troublesome infants in the universe's life."

The thunder god Raiden had a good hearty voice that could boom through the sky if he grew angry. He controlled lightning, thunder and his body had electricity coursing through it at all times. Atop his head was a triangular rice picker's hat normally worn by a beggar. This was Raiden's stealth, the fact that he looked like a beggar, a weak and frail man with long white hair. Despite his frail look, Raiden stood as one of the tallest people of Earth. Superman was tall, but Lord Raiden, god of thunder was even taller.

Superman wondered, "Raiden? We stopped the merge of our two universes! I thought you were stuck in Earthrealm!"

"Last I checked," said the god, "We are on Earth and I am a God of Earthrealm and if you didn't know, they are one in the same."

Wonder Woman walked over to her eternal white wearing god and tossed Superman's ring to the floor. Her guards eyed up the ring from beneath their golden helmets and shifted their gaze to one another. Wonder Woman walked around Raiden with her arm caressing his armored shoulders.

Raiden then told him, "I suggest you leave."

Superman clenched his fists and snarled, "Or what?"

Wonder Woman gave Raiden a kiss on the chin. A small burst of energy charged her lips and she pulled away with a smile and a giggle. She then turned to Superman and uttered, "Or I'll tell you about how we fell in love."

The man of steel questioned, "Love? What would you know about that?"

She looked Raiden from his pointy hat to his toes before she said, "Well it's not love exactly. It's what I love about him when we're intimate." She then elaborated as Superman shifted his jaw, "Ever since that battle when Raiden threw me into the ground with only my bottom and legs sticking out of the pavement I've been in love. Then when he zapped me with his super charged lighting, I knew he was what I wanted in a man. Nay a god."

"And my strong flower," said Raiden, "It's not every woman that can take my specific brand of punishment." Then he added with a smile toward her, "And survive!" They roared with laughter amongst the two of them as Wonder Woman hugged Raiden's strong neck. An electrical charge then shocked into Wonder Woman's body from Raiden's electrically charged god powers.

She nuzzled against him and giggled, "Baby likes." The strong woman turned into a giggling happy schoolgirl of a woman. It was the first time she had ever felt like that before in her life and her subjects knew this.

Superman was almost speechless before he proclaimed, "It's the Rage! It has taken hold of you!"

"No Kal-El," said Wonder Woman, "It's not the Rage, its just not you."

Raiden wondered, "Should I get rid of him?"

"He was just leaving," said Wonder Woman as she sternly looked to the man of steel.

Superman stared at him from across the chamber and uttered, "I want to see him try."

"I am a god," boldly stated Raiden.

The man of steel rebutted, "But only amongst mortals."


	3. Chapter 3: Raiden

CHAPTER 3: RAIDEN

Wonder Woman's pristine palace overlooked a beautiful city below. It was a city that had gleaming rooftops when the sun shined down upon it just right. The entire city looked as if it were made of gold as it basked in the glow of the yellow sun. It could be seen from the large chamber that Raiden, Wonder Women and Superman were in. Columns lined the look with plenty of balconies to look over.

An angry Superman growled as he sent his body forward with a flying charge toward Raiden. The thunder god sent his electrically charged body in a dive at Superman. When they met in the middle, it sent a cataclysmic rumble throughout Wonder Woman's land. A shockwave that everyone felt including the birds that took off in flight.

His anger was overwhelming as his former lover looked on. "The man of steel," she uttered, "Against the god of thunder."

The two met with a flurry of punches that shook their bodies. Superman's fists of steel battered into Raiden's ribs and face with little effect. Raiden's chops and strikes couldn't damage Superman's heroic body.

Finally Raiden lifted the man of steel and used his body as a conduit for his electricity. The volts coursed through Raiden's mighty hands into Superman's super body for a moment. Superman felt the pain of the voltage before Raiden gave him a boot that sent the man of steel end over end.

However, Superman merely flipped right-side-up again and hovered in the air where Raiden made a flurry of motions with his arms before sending a lightning volt out. Superman countered though with his heat vision. Both attacks zoomed through one another. Raiden's hands were burnt and Superman was zapped out of the air to the ground.

On one knee, Superman squint his eyes once more and sent a flash of red light at Raiden. The thunder god blocked the attack with his twin gauntlets and the man of steel didn't stop there. He stood up and glared at Raiden with his laser eyes. There was nothing the thunder god could do other than roll out of the way.

When Raiden moved, Superman zoomed in through the air and smashed into him with a violent uppercut. The thunder god was sent into the air end over end and Superman's super speed had his body hover in the air with his red cape flailing. The man of steel then burned an S into Raiden's chest while the thunder god was still in the air.

The smoldering body of Raiden landed on the palace floor and Superman roared out of the air with his fist down. Raiden rolled out of the way for a near miss, but Superman's fist sent a ripple that uprooted several tiles in the floor for a few meters around him.

Raiden gave the man of steel a boot to his square chin that sent his head back and the man of steel was reeling. Superman then began to laugh, "Your kicks can't affect me thunder god."

Infuriated, the white eyes of Raiden glowed with energy. In a flail of his arms to channel electrical energy, Raiden began a flurry of attacks. Punches lit with lightning zapped the steel body of Superman, before a kick finally sent the man of steel backward to a balcony that overlooked the city.

As Wonder Woman and her court of female citizens and Amazon warriors looked on, Superman looked at his chest before he looked to Raiden. With a laugh, Superman wondered, "Was that the best you can do?"

With a scream, Raiden hurled his body into the air, charging hat first with his arms stretched out. The thunder god slammed into Superman with electrical energy that zapped into the man of steel's rib cage accelerating his heartbeat.

Raiden sent them both through a railing of the balcony and they fell to the city below with Raiden forcing Superman to take the brunt of it. As they were in the air, Superman struggled against his adversary and with elbows; he made Raiden release his grip. Then, the man of steel smashed his brute fists into Raiden's face and flipped them around so Raiden's back would be broken when they slammed into the ground.

The thunder god however had millennia of wisdom and he was able to fight off Superman's fists and shift their mid air battle once again. A scream from Raiden sent a jolt of electricity into Superman who let out a yell of pain.

Wonder Woman and her citizens ran to the balcony with each of their braless breasts bouncing. When the princess came to what was left of the railing, her bosom heaved with excitement and held her pounding heart beneath of it.

Raiden was like a missile and Superman was at the tip as the two of them slammed through the roof of a building below. Superman's broad back took the brunt of the fall and the two of them slammed into the floor of the building.

It was a bathhouse they landed in with plenty of nude statues of women that had water pitchers that poured like fountains into the shallow pool. The force of the impact sent a splash of floor tiles high into the air that touched the tall ceiling. Bare bathers ran away in shock. Not only were there men on their island, there were men in their sanctuary.

The bare bathers cleared out of the bathhouse and left the men to do their business. Raiden was the first to his feet, while Superman's posterior was stuck in the floor. The thunder god reached down with and said with sarcasm, "Here let me help you."

Superman didn't extend his hand, but Raiden still grabbed it anyway and sent a jolt like a joy buzzer into the mighty appendage. There was a volt of electricity as a smile almost appeared on the face of Raiden. The thunder god's eyes lit up as he charged Superman and sent energy through him until there was smoke.

The man of steel mustered the strength to push Raiden backward. The thunder god was sent reeling and almost toppled into the shallow bathing pool. In fact he had to turn around to keep his balance and ended up looking to see his own reflection until he composed himself.

Raiden turned around to see Superman's fist come at him. The fist connected and Raiden spun around completely. Once the spin was over with, Superman threw his red boot into Raiden's side, but he ended up catching the kick and heaved the man of steel into the water.

There he was in the shallow pool ass first when Raiden lowered his body to the ground. More specifically he was about to put his hand in the pool of water. An electrically charged god of thunder and conductive water were about to shock every inch of Superman's steel body.

Raiden dipped his fingers into the shallow pool and it sent a current of electricity that lit up the pool with a white light. Superman's body sizzled and crackled submerged in the water. The thunder god was all business, no laughter at the glee of finishing what decades of what Lex Luther could never do. It wasn't the electricity that Superman was weak to; it was the magical energy that Raiden had to make the electricity that the man of steal was vulnerable to.

After a moment of electrocuting the man of steel, Raiden stood up and uttered, "A son of Krypton is no match for the son of pantheon gods." In an assumed victory, Raiden walked away and left Superman for dead. An electrical wave ran up Raiden's body until finally coming out of his white eyes with a crackle.

"Not," said a wincing Superman from behind the thunder god, "so fast." The man of steel was groggy as he stood hunched over still in the pool.

Without looking, Raiden uttered, "I should have killed you, but you are of an endangered race. I had mercy for you."

"If you could," Superman commented, "You would have."

An enraged Raiden smashed his fist through a stone statue. The attack left only the waist of a woman made of stone. Superman laughed, "If the only thing that you can destroy is a statue, how did you ever defeat Dark Kahn?"

Raiden turned around and towered over the man of steel still in the shallow pool. Even of level ground, Raiden still stood several inches taller than Superman. With a scream, Raiden lunged at the man of steel with his arms out. It was an attack that would have them both electrocuted in the pool, but Superman managed to connect his knuckles to the chin of the thunder god.

Electricity coursed through Superman into the water for a brief moment, but the thunder god was battered into the air where Superman squint his eyes and zapped Raiden with his own energy. Red lasers came from Superman's eyes and seared into Raiden's body.

The man of steel used his super speed and flight to make a flurry of fists that juggled Raiden's tall body. Punches spun Raiden around in mid air, before the man of steel caught him from falling into the pool. Hovering above the pool, Superman spun his body around and around, until he let go and Raiden was sent flying away from the area.

Superman then sucked the air and Raiden's body came back to the man of steel. Raiden's body was tenderized again by the meaty fists of Superman, before the final blow that sent the thunder god to the ground.

Without grace, the man of steel landed next to Raiden, picked him up off the ground and then ran with the thunder god on his shoulder. Superman charged with Raiden's body and slammed him through a wall to another chamber in the bathhouse.

There were a series of gut punches to Raiden that followed. His super speed and power were working overtime on Raiden's stomach. The man of steel then blew the air so cold that Raiden's upper torso began to freeze. Even the thunder god was not immune to Superman's attacks. Over a few seconds, Raiden was frozen in front of the man of steel.

Raiden was a living statue and with a barbaric yell, Superman had his arms stretched out wide with his fists clenched. It looked as if he was going to clap his hands together with Raiden's head in the middle, but Raiden suddenly shattered the ice that contained him.

The thunder god gave Superman a boot to the gut that sent him backward back through the hole in the wall. Raiden continued his pursuit and followed the man of steel through the hole only to discover that Superman wasn't there. He was gone. Raiden surveyed the area and he was puzzled there was no caped superhero. That is when Superman softly landed behind the thunder god. The man of steel had merely been hovering above the hole in the wall.

Superman grabbed Raiden and charged once again. This time through a column; then another and another and another until Superman had smashed through five columns that held up the roof of the bathhouse. Cracks began to make their way in the ceiling of the grand building.

Finally, after cracks, creeks and rumbles in the roof, the wall collapsed with the roof following it. Both men were beneath the collapsed roof. After another moment the rest of the roof crumbled in on the building.

Wonder Woman looked down upon the carnage. In the middle of her beautiful city was an eye sore of a collapsed building. A woman in a toga with a mannish face uttered, "We can all bathe at my house." One of Diana's helmeted guards commented, "Who is going to clean that up?" Then another guard asked, "Who will rebuild the bathhouse?"

The princess uttered, "Raiden will rebuild it; he's a god after all."

The guard quipped, "Gods have temples made for them in their honor princess Diana. They are not known for building them." Another guard uttered, "If he survived."

Wonder Woman gave her a dirty look with a scowl on her face that could have killed the guard instantly. Then a blissful citizen in a toga said, "Look there! I see movement!"

Down below them, in the rubble that was the bathhouse, some of the roof began to tremble then shift. Chunks of stone roof moved out of the way for whoever was beneath of it. First it was slowly shifting in the pile of white stone. Then a hand appeared. Just a hand that was undistinguishable.

An arm covered in blue emerged, followed by a shoulder, and the rubble trembled. Superman raised his body as if doing a pushup with a ton of white stone on his back. His head faced the yellow sun and the beauty of the women around him. He heaved the rubble off of him and slowly crawled out of the debris. He was groggy and slow to stand on his feet.

With a roar in his throat and a bark in his voice, he called out to the palace, "Will you marry me now Diana?" He looked victorious with his arms flexed and his chest pounding from the battle. His costume was torn and dingy. His cape was torn and the S on his chest was torn. It was an incredible sight, and Diana just stood there looking at him from the crumbled railing of the balcony.

A moment after the breeze lifting Superman's cape a white figure formed behind Superman. Then the figure quickly came to be Raiden who had teleported himself from beneath the rubble. Raiden grit his teeth and didn't look happy.

The sound of the teleport gained Superman's attention, so he quickly turned around. With his mighty fists, Superman began to slam them into the rice picking hat of Raiden. It was like Superman's arms were hammers and Raiden's outstretched hat was the head of a nail. Fist after fist battered into Raiden hammering him down.

Raiden was in a daze instead of a rage with his waist in the rubble. Superman then took a small step to gain momentum and booted Raiden in the face. The thunder god was sent flying back out of the rubble where Superman then sucked the air around Raiden to draw him back into the fist of Superman. The man of steel had his hands clenched and smashed them into the jaw of Raiden to send him flying back again.

The thunder god flew upside-down backward and landed face first in the rubble. The body of Raiden turned white, dissipated, and reformed as a white figure where he had just stood. There he was with his teeth grit and an electrical wave that went up his body to his arms where he let out a charge.

A series of volts were shot from Raiden's left hand, then his right, then left and right and plenty more were sent to weaken Superman. Each lightning volt that was sent into Superman had Raiden yelling for extra strength. Then the thunder god lunged his body into Superman like a torpedo.

He connected with the attack and put a jolt of energy into the super hero's ribs. The two of them landed off of the pile of rubble in the street. Raiden disappeared in a figure of white energy only to reappear again.

Wonder Woman ordered with a booming voice from high above, "That's enough!" When she had their attention, they looked to her and heard her say, "I will not have you two destroying my island over me." She was angry and proclaimed, "Kal-El, I have made my choice! You must respect that."

The citizens that stood gawking at the man of steel agreed with her. One of them even screamed out, "This is what men bring to our society!" Another screamed with her hand up, "Yeah!"

The man of steel didn't know what to do at first. He looked to all of the beautiful faces that were all angry and screaming at him. Then he was hit by the first stone. He asked them, "Don't I have any fans here? Does anyone want autographs?" That is when the second stone hit him, this time in the head. Not that a stone would affect him, but it was still the insult of having rocks thrown.

He yelled out, "In Metropolis they adore me."

A random woman in the crowd yelled out, "Then go back home city boy!" The truth is that Superman was a country-city-alien boy.

Wonder Woman called down to him, "Return to Metropolis and here!" With that said, she threw down his diamond ring, "Take your ring to marry your Lois Lane."

Superman was forced to fly away in defeat. Both his heart and spirit were broken even if his body was undamaged. The man of steel shot like a bullet through the sky and the wind whipped through his hair on his way home to his fortress of solitude.

Upon landing in his crystal cavern in the frozen tundra of Earth he was surprised to discover that it was quite active. He heard a voice that he recognized. His brow furrowed with anger as he muttered, "Luther."

When the man of steel stormed through is crystal cavern, he discovered Lex Luther in a parka with a pair of champagne glasses and a bottle in the other. He looked and said with his gruff voice, "Oh. Superman; what are you doing here?"

"I could ask you the same Luther," retorted the man of steel, before he added, "But I'm not in the mood."


	4. Chapter 4: Lex Luther

CHAPTER 4: LEX LUTHER

There was Superman's greatest foe, Lex Luther in a furry parka standing before Superman in his home. He was clearly out of place in the fortress of solitude. There were crystals that gleamed with light back and forth inside of the cold cavern. Superman himself was even out of place considering that he was in tights and a cape when the only thing that could ever match a crystal palace are shinny clothes.

Lex gave the man of steel a champagne glass and said, "Here. I want to apologize to you."

Superman used his X-ray vision on the bottle of champagne. Lex then told him, "Relax big fella, its not laced with Kryptonite or anything." It was a rare fact that he told to the man from Krypton.

"I'm going to throw you back to Metropolis," uttered Superman in disgust at Lex being in his home.

"I've turned over a new leaf," said Lex only to hear his nemesis comment, "LexCorp has burned down every tree that you've ever seen."

Luther was gruff with Superman, "You don't believe me?"

The man of steel folded his arms and merely stared at Luther.

Lex said with a smile as he offered the glass to Superman, "The old adage is that you can trust me about as far as you can throw me right? Well man of steel, you can throw me back to Metropolis as you so aptly informed me."

Superman wasn't about to take the glass, so Lex shied away and put down the champagne. He then added, "I've given up crime. Seen the error of my ways and so on and so forth."

The man of steel found it hard to believe, "What are you planning?"

"I'm planning a family," said Lex only to have Superman comment, "Made of evil robots no doubt."

"No Superman," laughed Lex, "Look at me, I'm laughing! I haven't laughed since I killed that one guy in my lair. How many years ago was that? It came to my mind when the universe began to merge with Outworld that was the first time I had smiled."

Superman wondered, "What are you talking about?"

They were interrupted by a feminine voice, "Lexie come back to bed!"

The man of steel teetered on his feet with his arms folded and he pondered, "Her name is?"

"It's Kitana," he said, before he touched Superman's elbow and nodded, "She's a princess."

Superman pushed Lex's hand and said, "I know all about princesses." With that said, the princess entered the chamber they were in. Her hair was pinned above her head with blue ribbons that draped down behind her bare back. Kitana was covered in a silver bed sheet and nude beneath.

With her wise voice, she stated, "Oh, I didn't know you were here." She then told Lex, "I thought you said he was gone."

Lex retorted, "He was gone." With that, he handed her a glass, shook up the champagne and popped the cork. The bubbly liquid poured out of the end and Lex used it to fill her glass first.

Superman commented, "So that champagne glass wasn't for me was it Luther?"

"I may have become a new man," Lex started to say, "But I'm still not going to be generous, unless it's a tax write off."

Once the champagne filled the glass, Kitana clutched it to her chest with the silver bed sheet and offered her right hand to Superman. She told him, "Hello, I am Princess Kitana of Edenia."

Superman merely glanced her over and muttered, "I barely recognized you without your mask."

Lex wondered, "Well introduce yourself." He saw Superman's reluctance and introduced him, "This is Kal-El from the destroyed planet Krypton and the protector of Earth."

She said with a snicker, "My last boyfriend was the protector of Earthrealm."

Superman's interest was perked slightly, "And why is he now your ex?"

Lex jumped in as he filled his own glass of champagne, "Because he doesn't have my funds. No matter what world they are from, women all love money."

"He's right," said Kitana, "Women do love money, but I prefer power. It is difficult for me, the daughter of an overlord to go from palaces to dating a monk who has taken a vow of poverty." Then she snickered, "Not to mention celibacy."

Superman boldly asked, "Why did you bring her here?"

"So you can meet the reason why I'm free of crime," Lex told him, "That way you can see that I'm being honest." He then raised his glass to toast with Kitana, "To us Kitty."

Luther then commented to the man of steel, "I brought her here with the portal technology that I obtained from the special-forces. I couldn't sell the technology to the industrial-military complex, because that's who I got it from. I did however make a profit with something that is priceless to me and I found her when I paid Kitana a visit."

She then added, "And now my people and I reside on Shang Tsung's island. It's the first step before we move in together. I move to his planet."

Superman quipped, "A princess with an island huh? Good luck Luther."

"One thing lead to another when we came here," said Lex, "You weren't around."

"But my bed was," said Superman.

"Precisely," confirmed Lex, before Kitana added; "Now I've had it in beds from four different planets."

The man of steel commented, "You must be proud a proud man Luther."

With the shifting of his eyes that caressed Kitana's body, Luther retorted, "Oh, but I am." He then asked a question of his own, "Now tell us Superman, why are you here?"

The man of steel snapped, "Because this is my home Lex."

Lex wondered, "Bad day? Your super suit looks a little tarnished."

"The worst," said Superman, "But I did save a baby from falling out of its Metropolis high rise."

Luther commented, "I'm sure that I'll read all about it in the Daily Planet."

"Then I was beaten by the thunder god Raiden," added Superman. He then told them, "My weakness to magic was exploited and now I am here to research how to become immune to it."

The bald super villain told his former rival, "Then to prove that I have changed, I will help you research a way for you to become immune to magic."

"Thanks Luther," said Superman, "I don't know what to say."

Lex quipped, "Other than what's in it for me right?"

Superman shook his head in agreement, but Luther stopped him, "Well nothing is in it for me other than getting your dignity back. You and I are no bedfellows, but I'd rather have you, the alien being that I do know, flying around instead of a bunch of alien beings that I don't know. We have a familiarity my dear Superman."

Kitana asked, "What about me?"

"Kitty," started Lex Luther, "You my dear do not fly around do you?" It was an avoidance of her question. He then said with a smile that was the most natural smile he had ever smiled, "And we are intimately familiar." He then faced Superman and added, "Besides that, I'm more technology savvy than you the man of brute strength."

Together, Lex Luther and his arch nemesis Superman searched the Kryptonian database inside of the fortress of solitude. They stood side by side over a computer made of crystals. Each crystal had hours of information on it with no search function. Hours went by and Kitana ended up passed out behind them.

Lex looked back at her lying there asleep and laughed to himself, "I've been surrounded by bumbling fools and morons my entire tenure at LexCorp. If it was not for their incompetence I would have never been caught by you Superman." He traced her figure with his eyes as she slept on her stomach, before he commented, "But I don't have that problem with her. She's easily controlled and the Asian look doesn't hurt either."

He then wondered to Superman, "Did you know that her father was one half of Dark Side?"

The man of steel glanced over at the sleeping Kitana and commented, "You always did know how to end up in bed with the enemy Luther." Superman then turned back to the task at hand and commented, "I think that I have found what I'm looking for."

Lex kept his focus on the slumbering Kitana, "So have I."


	5. Chapter 5: Captain Marvel

CHAPTER 5: CAPTAIN MARVEL

Elsewhere in Metropolis a bank alarm rings silently. A blinking red light beneath a countertop can be seen as a nervous bank teller has her foot on the floor switch with her hands up. Five masked thugs have their shotguns pointed at the citizens of Metropolis.

Jimmy Olsen just so happened to be there and he cowers in fear with a shotgun pointed at his head. Jimmy has a camera in his hand and a neck strap on, the masked thug barks, "No flash photography please!" The blast from the masked man's ski mask goes off through Jimmy's camera into his chest.

Lying and dying on the floor, Jimmy sends a shockwave of even bigger panic in the bank as another masked bank robber cries out, "Any one of you could be next!" Two of the thugs dressed all in black leap over the countertops and know exactly where the safe is. The bank robber that shot Jimmy asked, "Where's your Superman now?" There was hearty laughter amongst the men in black as women and children wept for their lives in the bank.

Then there was a crash at the door followed by a smash of glass that gained everyone's attention. One of the children cried out, "It's a bird!" A man then called out, "It's a plane crash!" Finally, a chipper blonde woman holding a newborn baby yelled with glee, "It's!"

Captain Marvel entered the building through the smashed glass of the door and the woman added, "I don't know who it is." Her posture slumped down as another man turned away with a shy and said, "It's Shazam." An overweight woman said, "No, it's Captain Marvel." They bickered amongst themselves, "Shazam," "No, Captain Marvel."

Whatever the name he was there, but no one seemed interested. Captain Marvel was miffed at the lack of response, "Well cheer up everybody, I'm here to rescue you!"

One of the bank robbers stepped right up to Captain Marvel with his shotgun pointed into his chest. The bank robber uttered, "Let's see if Captain Shazam is bulletproof."

After that was said, a wall exploded, but not from the bank vault. This was the wall of a main lobby. Sunlight shined in from the Metropolis sky above. Everyone ducked their heads to the ground; the attractive blonde woman cradled her newborn baby. One man called out, "Superman's here! We're saved!"

Superman then hovered in through the hall mighty with his muscles rippling he emerged from the cloud of smoke. He asked in his booming voice, "Is everyone alright?"

A sassy man exclaimed, "They shot cub reporter Jimmy Olsen!" Then the overweight woman commented, "And the bank guards!" There were a pair of bank guards in grey uniforms with pools of blood around them and chunks of brain matter on the wall where both were standing.

Superman glanced over to them, and said, "There's nothing I can do for them." There were then shotgun blasts toward the man of steel. They were ineffective as one of the men cried out, "Kick ass Superman!"

The man of steel used his heat vision to melt the shotgun in the hand of one bank robber, and then he used his super ability to blow air and froze two of the bank robbers where they stood.

After the bank robbers were neutralized, Superman ran to the aide of Jimmy Olsen. The poor boy of a man was coughing up blood. He uttered to Superman, "I ain't gonna make it am I?"

"Oh Jimmy," said the man of Steel, "Of course you'll make it! I'm gonna suck out the pellets and use those bank robbers as target practice."

Superman cradled the photographer in his arms and Jimmy whispered with a cough of blood. "I can't just die here, I know the truth Superman," he said, "I'm not as dumb as people think I am."

The man of steel asked, "What do you mean?"

"I'm gonna blow the whole story wide open," uttered the dying newsboy of a man, "You let Miss. Lane die this morning."

Superman's brow furrowed, before he looked to the crowd of people in the bank. Superman barked, "Stay down everybody, there's still danger."

Captain Marvel asked, "What do you mean? That robber's gun is melted, and you froze the other two!"

After that was said, the two bank robbers working the safe came out with guns blazing. There were shotgun blasts fired into the lobby that created a distraction. Tears, screams and yells came from each of the hostages.

This was the distraction that Superman needed and he used his super speed to smash Jimmy's head into the marble tiles of the bank floor. It was a force so hard that the back of Jimmy's head cracked wide open and Superman cried out, "He's dead!" Then he looked to the bank while cradling Jimmy and screamed, "Why?" Superman nervously looked to the faces of all of the hostages, before he furrowed his brow again and said to Jimmy, "You were so young!"

As for the other two bank robbers, in a rage, Superman hurled his body over the bank counter in flight. Even with their guns blazing, the superhero snatched both bank robbers by their necks. Both men were in an obvious panic as Superman said, "Look what you've done."

With that said, he bashed both men's heads together so hard that they exploded inside of their ski masks. Then the man of steel dropped both their lifeless corpses to the floor and when their ski masks hit the ground, the chunks of bloody skull seeped out of their eye holes.

Captain Marvel dusted off his hands and said, "A job well done." There was one bank robber left standing. He had no weapon in hand, so he began to run through the lobby toward the smashed doors. A bank teller cowering in fear rose up and pointed, "He's getting away Superman!"

Superman continued to speak with Captain Marvel as the man of steel rolled his eyes and said loudly, "Eh. Let the Flash handle him." Then he spoke to Captain Marvel, "I need to speak with you."

As the two of them took off through the hole in the bank wall, the attractive blonde woman yelled, "Thanks for the baby Superman!"

The superheroes walked along the city streets and in the background the cops just arrived. Captain Marvel screamed out, "It's about time fellas!"

There were apologies shouted from the officers, "Sorry!" Ten squad cars were there along with a swat van and a commander with a bullhorn that shouted, "What is your list of demands?" Panic gripped the streets, people ran away from the bank as gun fire from the police could be heard.

Captain Marvel yelled out, "Job's done guys! We handled it! Now send someone in to clean up the mess!"

"I need your help," said the man of steel. The pair of superheroes looked like carbon copies as they walked down the street.

From behind the two of them the last bank robber barked out, "Nobody comes close or I shoot her!" He had gotten a gun off a policeman and had it pointed to the head of a hostage he held close.

Captain Marvel asked, "Do you think the merging of the universes brought more crime?"

"No," said Superman, "Lack of morals brought about more crime. Violent video games, angry comedy and downright blasphemy is what is bringing down society."

Captan Marvel wondered, "It's not because Lex Luther gave up crime now that he found love?"

With chaos in the background, the final bank robber hopped into a police car with his hostage, as Superman commented, "It sounds like you're jealous my friend."

The captain commented, "This guy must be joking. I have a family." He then elaborated his theory, "At least with Lex he had a single vision for hundreds of criminals, but now they each have their own vision, so instead of stopping Luther, we need to stomp out all of these minor criminals."

The bank robber hit the gas pedal of the squad car and charged through the street. Hot dog venders were sent running, seats from corner cafes were sent flying into the air as the bank robber was intent on escaping Metropolis gridlock. Superman asked, "What's this we? Are you even from Metropolis?"

"No," said the captain, "You just said that you needed some help."

"I need a new suit," said the man of steel, only to hear Captain Marvel quip, "Yeah, I think the one you're wearing is from the 1920s."

Superman laughed and said, "You're one to talk." Captain Marvel still had buttons down the side of his chest indicative of a police officer from the 1920s.

Captain Marvel asked, "Why are you asking me for a new suit? What's this guy implying?"

The man of steel wondered, "What guy?" He then added, "I'm implying that you could tailor me a new suit." The engine of the squad car could be heard revving its engine.

"I have a wife you know," said the Captain.

"I've," Superman hesitantly began to say, "Never met her." There was doubt in his mind, but he shook it off and continued, "Look, I was just beaten worse than when General Zod came to Earth. That thunder god Raiden's magic was just too much for me to overcome. I need a new suit resistant to magic and Lex Luther was nice enough to help me design a new one based on information from the Krytponian Komputer."

He then reached into his waistline and said, "Here, I have the design right here." Superman handed the captain a sheet of folded paper.

Captain Marvel commented, "It's stylish," before he added, "And in crayon. Did you draw this?"

"The Kryptonian Komputer doesn't have a print function," said the man of steel. He looked at Marvel's chest and saw the lighting bolt. Superman asked, "Lightning huh? Are you sure that you're not just Raiden without a hat?"

"Hey if I were Raiden," said the captain, "I'd be tapping Diana's big..."

Superman stopped him with his arm, "Wait." He leaned in close to ask, "How did you know that?"

Marvel asked, "You didn't?"

"No; I didn't," stated the man of steel, "A real friend would have told me."

The captain commented, "A real friend would have introduced me to her back when you were dating Lois Lane."

"It's no matter who's right or wrong," said Superman with his bold voice, before he continued their pace, "I need you because you're a wizard; Right?"

"I am," he replied, "But I'm not really the tailor type. I know a guy that can help though."

After the sound of the revving engine, came the sound of squealing tires as the police car with the bank robber sped forward toward the back of the superheroes. The final bank robber yelled from the squad car, "Die superheroes!"

Superman and Captain Marvel turned around at the last second. The captain cried out, "Shazam!" A lightning volt was sent into the car's gas tank that caused an explosion. The car was turned into a fireball that still continued to race toward them.

The man of steel crouched down and pulled his arms back to shove his hands forward. He shoved the speeding fireball and the black squad car was sent end over end. The car's rear was sent into the air and it landed on its top. The policemen came running and yelled to Captain Marvel, "There was a hostage in there!"

Captain Marvel looked to the flaming squad car and bobbed his chin as he proclaimed, "I only see the robber." The robber slipped out the side of the driver window. His body was on fire and he began to run away from the car. He collapsed to the ground and Superman put out the flames with his super breath.

Another cop on the scene told the captain, "She's in the trunk genius." With that said, the overturned squad car exploded a second time into a blaze of red flames.

"Hey," said Captain Marvel with his finger in the chest of the officer, "How do I know these details? It's not like I have the wisdom of Solomon or X-ray vision." The superheroes turned around and began to ascend into flight.

Superman asked, "I thought you did."

"He doesn't know that," laughed Captain Marvel, who then added, "You need to keep some of your talents secret. How'd you get Lois to stop wearing her lead undergarments?"

The man of steel commented, "I didn't. I just never wanted to look."

The voice of Captain Marvel boomed, "Now we go to, ShaZAM!" With that said a bolt of lightning jolted him further into flight along side of Superman's speeding bullet.


	6. Chapter 6: ShaZAM!

CHAPTER 6: SHAZAM!

Later that night, the two superheroes, Superman and Captain Marvel found themselves in a subway. It was an abandon rail that the two had to secretly enter. On the station platform was a single subway car that silently waited for them.

Captain Marvel lead the way with his illuminated fist of light. Not that Superman needed light when he had X-ray vision. The two men entered the subway car as if they were on a nightly commute. Superman commented, "I haven't rode one of these in my suit in years." Then he asked, "Why do we need to ride one of these when we can fly."

"Its complicated," replied the captain, before he elaborated, "Only the train car can go through the magical portal to take us to Shazam." With that said, the train car mysteriously pulled away from the platform with no driver and followed the rail. Marvel then spoke out loud, "Hours went by that felt like minutes on the magical railway."

Eventually Superman had to ask, "Is this the way?"

"I'm sure it is," commented Captain Marvel, "But the writer isn't so sure."

The perplexed man of steel was forced to wonder, "Who's the writer?"

Captain Marvel explained, "That is unimportant; it's the readers that are important."

"No, my new suit is what's important," stated Superman as he looked out the window to see an endless black void outside of the car.

The captain narrated with his deep voice, "Superman doubted me with where the mysterious passenger car took us."

Then the man of steel turned to the captain and asked, "Have you come under a spell; or more importantly the rage?"

The captain laughed, "The rage is gone my friend. It's only my narration. If you've ever read my comics, I speak directly to the reader." He then added, "That's what makes me more identifiable and even more popular than you Superman."

Superman then commented, "Ah, that was the reason for the lawsuit. You weren't my clone of justice, you were my copyright infringement."

"I was just a boy when I imagined this alter-ego," Captain Marvel looked over Superman from head to toe and uttered, "I don't know why the witch-hunt."

"You are a wizard," said Superman, only to hear Marvel retort, "We look totally different."

The man of steel glared at his clone and commented, "Yes, I see by your dinky white cape with gold trim that there is a clear difference."

"Superman was about to burn a hole through me with his glare," said the Captain, "But we were here and in a moment we'd have to go meet Shazam." After their conversation, the subway car slowly came to a halt in the dark void of the magical subway tunnel.

Captain Marvel spoke up again, "We were here, at my mentor's sanctuary."

"Tell me," said Superman, "Who is this Shazam?"

"He is the wizard that gave me my power," replied the captain, "He has the wisdom of Solomon." The doors opened up and the two left being guided by Marvel's illuminated fist as he added, "The strength of Hercules, the stamina of Atlas, the power of Zeus, the courage of Achilles, the speed of Mercury." After a moment of walking, the captain finalized the statement, "That is what makes him Shazam."

Superman wondered, "Is that like July, August, September, October and November make up the name Jason?" The two superheroes had a moment of walking until they came to a dead end in the creepy lair. There were rock formations and towering statues around the two of them. The man of steel asked, "Where is this Shazam?"

Captain Marvel stepped up to alter where a single brazier sat waiting for them. "He's dead," stated the captain.

Superman looked around and asked, "Where? I don't see a body." He even turned around to look toward the subway car.

"He's been dead for decades now," explained the captain as he checked his suit and added, "Little did I know it, but I had forgotten my matches in another suit that morning. We had come all this way for nothing, because without matches to light the brazier, we would have to travel all the way back."

Superman stepped to alter, squinted his eyes and used his heat vision to light a fire in the brazier. Then he uttered with no energy, "Superman saves the day again."

A green mist bellowed from the flame that consumed the room. Captain Marvel then narrated, "It was far more smoke than anyone ever expects to see from such a tiny flame."

The man of steel quipped, "You know I'm standing right here don't you?" He continued to gaze at the brazier and realized, "Hey is that a green lantern? More copyright infringements."

"No its not," said Captain Marvel, "It's a brazier that bellows green smoke." With the smoke consuming the room, eventually it all spun together to form a figure from where the smoke was more dense.

The figure soon became the wizard Shazam. He was an elderly man with a grayish beard that flared out, curled and made him look crazy. His two wily eyes were above a long grey mustache and below his bald skullet of long grey hair halfway down his back.

Shazam was overjoyed as he cackled, "Young Billy Baston!" The green ghost of Shazam then walked around Captain Marvel and ogled his skin tight uniform. He then asked, "How is your deliciously supple young body?"

Captain Marvel commented, "When Shazam faced me again he said," "I thought that I told you that this is a sanctuary safe from prying eyes. Your identity is safe with me Billy." The old man cackled again, "Let's revert to your secret identity shall we?"

With that said, a bright yellow light overcame Billy's body and when the light was done, he had reverted to a raven haired twelve year old boy. The tongue of Shazam's ghost protruded to lick his whiskered lips as he ruffled his hair. The old man commented, "Oh beautiful Billy Baston, it has been a while."

Then Shazam noticed Superman in the shadows, "Wait! Who is this?" Superman stepped into the light and Shazam cried out, "I... I had no idea that this boy was in man's disguise! You saw him transform! I had no idea that he was so delectable." He cackled and winced from hyperventilating, "He tricked me!"

"Relax," said Billy, "He's a friend."

"Oh," cackled Shazam with his crazy elderly voice, "Have you brought a new play friend for me Billy?"

The man of steel stepped to the crazy miser and boldly stated, "Hardly. When I'm in my suit, I'm all business."

Shazam looked across the broad chest of Superman and caressed it as he uttered, "My; my officer, your uniforms have changed all of these years that I've been here." Then the old man perked up, and played with his long beard, "Wait, you look strangely familiar."

"I should," proclaimed Superman, "Your ward took my identity when he came up with Captain Marvel."

The old man laughed a moment and he looked to Billy with a toothless smile, "Billy knows our agreement."

Billy elaborated for him, "He said he'd make me a superhero if I didn't tell anyone about what we do here."

Shazam questioned, "It's been our little secret for decades now." He then began to caress Billy's shoulders, "I hope you still haven't told your mom and dad."

Billy looked with a cheerful smile, "I'm an orphan!"

"Oh," giggled the old man, "That's right, all the better." With that he nuzzled his nose against the back of Billy's raven haired head.

The boy then added, "Even if I had parents, that was seventy years ago! They'd be dead by now!" With a silly smile, the old man began to give him a massage. Billy continued on, "In fact, I have a whole family now and even a pet bunny!"

There was cackling laughter from the old man, before he uttered, "Did you recruit that boy's choir I asked you to?"

"No," laughed Billy. The old miser then asked, "Is it time to play cave rescue Billy?"

"Not now," giggled Billy before he pointed back to Superman, "He needs your help."

Superman glanced at the contact the old man had with the boy and then uttered, "I'm afraid of the price to ask for the favor."

Old Shazam's ghost stated as he licked Billy's ear, "The only thing that I ask is you keep our little secret. It's for Billy's protection. Evil doers would harm my dear Billy boy. His soft body would become bruised and lose it's..."

Superman jumped in, "I just need your help to make a new costume and Captain Marvel told me that you could help."

The old man smacked his lips as he perked up and said, "Costume?" With a chuckle behind his rosy red cheeks, "I sure do know a lot about making costumes." He then added, "And measuring bodies." The miser continued his chuckle as he looked to Superman, "Across, and then upward."

Shazam approached the man of steel to size him up, before he asked, "Who are you tall strapping sir? Is there a ripened boy beneath of your costume?"

Superman stated, "I was once a boy, but now I'm a man." After a pause he added, "A superman."

The old wizard coiled back, "A superman?"

The man of steel then asked, "Are you going to help me?"

"Give him what he wants," giggled Billy, "You don't want Superman to cream you and pound you into the ground!"

Shazam chuckled to himself while lost in thought and ruffling his beard. He uttered, "I'm not sure he can do that to a ghost, but if he wants to pound me, he can go right ahead."

Billy Baston spoke up to narrate, "Superman handed Shazam the paper of the suit's design and over the next few days the old wizard tailor made it for him. Once the suit was done, Superman was impervious to magic. His new suit had bracers to protect from attacks and his belt buckle was a great amulet that sent energy through his body."

When it was time to leave, Superman bid farewell and the wizard waved at him. Shazam's wave was underhanded and close to Superman's waist. "Farewell," chuckled the old man, "You take care of young Billy and treat him like a peach Superman!"

The two of them entered the subway car, the tall Superman and the young twelve year old boy. Billy asked, "So what's next?"

"Well Billy," uttered Superman, "I drop you off at an abuse clinic and then I'm going to go win Princess Diana's hand in marriage by throwing out a freeloading god." With that said, the man of steel messed up Billy's hair.

Billy said, "Aw Superman! Do ya have to? Can't you just drop me off at the orphanage?"

"No Billy," said the bold voice of Superman, "I think you'll have issues when you grow up if you don't see a therapist."

The boy commented, "But I am grown up! I'm about to have my seventieth birthday with my wife at my side! Shazam gave me eternal youth for helping him play cave rescue."


	7. Chapter 7: Liu Kang

CHAPTER 7: LIU KANG

The next day, dawn rose upon Wonder Woman's island of Themyscira. The sun's reflection made a stream of yellow through the body of water surrounding the island while the sun itself changed the purple of night into a yellow morning glow.

Raiden and Wonder Woman had been busy all night before Superman touched down in front of the palace steps. Two Amazonian guards crossed their spears as one of them said, "None shall pass! Princess Diana needs her beauty sleep."

Superman proclaimed, "She's obviously not getting any of that." The twin spears were pointed toward Superman's chest. "Easy ladies," he uttered, "My super hearing knows that she's not asleep right now."

"I may be a man," he stated, but then like a gentleman he politely wondered, "Have I not always been a friend to your noble land? Princess Diana and I have always been allies to save Themyscira and the World of Man."

The man of steel could have easily thrown the gold clad Amazon warriors into the sky and entered. He was a diplomat when he spoke with them. His goal was Wonder Woman's heart and only tenderness would earn that. He began to gently lower the tips of their spears with his hand as he said, "Proud warriors, please let me past."

The twin warriors in gold merely crossed their spears to block the man of steel once more. They botn uttered once more, "None shall pass."

"Then I shall wait," said the super hero. When that was said, Superman could hear the walk of footsteps that approached him from within the palace. They weren't the tall heeled steps of a Themyscirian woman. They were the blunt flat footed steps of a man.

Superman used his X-ray vision to look inside of the palace to see a male skeleton that approached the entrance. Soon enough that slim male figure became clear, it was only a human, but it was still a man. The man's boots came into the light from out of the temple shadows. Then his lower half and finally his bare chest.

The man's body had only three percent body fat on it, when normal men in shape needed four times that to protect their vital organs. Then Superman recognized him and called out, "Liu Kang, what are you doing here?"

The Chinese monk approached Superman from between the guards. A breeze blew Liu Kang's headband tassels to the right over his shoulder. He asked, "I should ask you the same question Superman."

In Liu's right hand is an apple that he proceeded to munch on as he explained, "Diana is busy."

"I can hear," said Superman with his super hearing echoing Diana's moaning voice.

"As for what I am doing here," uttered Liu Kang, "I am the champion of Mortal Kombat." With the bite of his apple he looked to the twin guards with a smirk, "Raiden invited me to champion the women here." With a brief chuckle at his own joke, he ate another bite and quipped, "I am recently single after all."

Superman wondered, "You spent the night here?"

Liu retorted, "How else would I get home?" With the bite of his apple he smirked as he said, "Did you know that there are no honeymoon suites here? There are only harem suites."

"I knew," said Superman, "But they never appealed to me."

The champion of Mortal Kombat offered advice, "My old princess would not have me in her palace, I would suggest that you do the same thing I did Superman."

"I can't do that," said the man of steel.

"Funny," quipped Liu Kang, "You seem to do everything but that." With a smirk and a lowered head, he added, "You couldn't defeat Lord Raiden either."

Superman angrily uttered, "Explain to me why I shouldn't throw you off this island."

"This is not Krypton," stated Liu Kang, "This is not your home and I am a guest." He then put his finger in the chest of Superman from behind the crossed spears, "And you are not." With a shrewd look on his face, he added, "You and your super hearing know what they are busy doing right now."

The sound of thunder volts came from within the palace and lit up Diana's bed chamber followed by some intense screams. Kang then said with a laugh, "Its not torture to her."

"You have me some advice," stated Superman, "Let me return the favor; if the woman you thought was your princess threw you out, then you should do everything inside of you to get her back."

Liu Kang threw his apple behind him as he pushed the crossed spears out of his way. He then uttered, "I am already dead Superman; this has been prophesized that I will die by two men in an allegiance to conquer Earthrealm." Superman didn't take a step back as Liu Kang went up to him and asked, "What do I care about saving my relationship with a woman nearly ten thousand years old?"

The man of steel took Liu Kang and threw him down the steps of the palace. When Liu Kang reached the bottom he looked up to Superman. A red cape fluttered in the wind as the twin guards stood behind him with their spears still crossed. Superman's voice boomed, "Perhaps I should beat some sense into you!"

Mortal Kombat's champion asked, "I'm no super villain. I've done nothing wrong! I'm the champion of Earthrealm!"

Superman's voice boomed down again, "How can you be a champion of Earth when you haven't beaten me?"

Liu Kang stood up and cracked his back into place. He then held the back of his head and yelled, "I have defeated wizards, four-armed Shokan, reptiles, ninjas and a conqueror from another world!"

With his cape still flailing in the wind, Superman yelled, "That is nothing compared to what I have done!"

"What you did Superman," said Liu, "Is beat up the same villain week in and week out."

Superman yelled down, "I think you are missing the point champion!"

Liu Kang hissed, "What's that?"

The man of steel called out, "As a champion you should know that when you die your legacy lives on. Either in legend or like me; I live from a father who has passed on. You can leave your legacy in a son to carry on Liu Kang."

Liu Kang questioned, "And leave Kitana a single mother?"

From there a golden lasso wrapped around Superman's shoulders. His biceps flexed and his muscles rippled, but nothing could free him from the unbreakable bond of truth. The man of steel turned around to face his capture. It was Wonder Woman, and behind her was a topless Raiden without his pointed hat.

The thunder god's long grey hair whipped in the wind and he wore a jade dragon medallion around his neck. Princess Diana was dressed in a short toga with a tiara atop her raven black hair. She held the rope and asked the man of steel, "What did you think you could accomplish by coming back?"

With the lass of truth around Superman, he was forced to be perfectly honest, "I can defeat Raiden."

With a stern look, Princess Diana said, "It looks like this fight wasn't about me. If it was, he would have said that he was." She pulled the lasso closer and asked, "How did you think that you could beat a god?"

She expected him to say his super strength, but instead he surprised her and Raiden both by saying, "I am immune to his magic now."

Raiden's deep and soothing voice asked, "How is that possible?"

"With my new suit," said the man of steel, "The wizard Shazam made it for me."

The thunder god asked, "Where will I find this Shazam?"

"He is in the Rock of Eternity," said Superman, "Captain Marvel can lead you to Shazam."

Raiden began to charge his electrical energy into a single ball of light that materialized between his hands. The thunder god screamed as the energy collected until finally he sent it flying toward the man of steel.

Superman was engulfed in a white light of electrical discharge. There were no screams, but instead Superman merely stood there like a rock. Once the white light subsided, Superman uttered, "That could have hurt Princess Diana."

Then the princess stated, "And this fighting will solve nothing. If anything you two will destroy more of my island."

Liu Kang came walking up the palace steps and quipped, "Why not a race? A man faster than a speeding bullet against a man as fast as light."

Wonder Woman kept her lasso in hand as she put her finger up to her mouth and pondered, "A race?" She nodded her head, and asked Superman, "Is there a train anywhere in danger?"

He was forced to tell the truth, "I can hear the screaming! In Metropolis, there is an elevated train taken hostage by gunmen."

"Tell ya what boys," Princess Diana told both of her suitors, "Whichever one of you can get that train to its final stop will get a date with me." With a mighty yank on her rope, she pulled Superman down to the ground and pushed him down the stairs with her boot. She yelled, "Now go!"

With Raiden having a head start, he dematerialized in a ball of white energy that disappeared. As for Superman, without Wonder Woman holding the rope, he was free to escape and fly to Metropolis.

Liu Kang wondered, "I thought you liked Raiden."

"Oh I do," Princess Diana said, "But I like to take showers alone."

Kang looked down to the courtyard to see plenty of women and asked, "Is there every an alone around here?"

Wonder Woman then commented, "This was just a good way to get him off of my island and get some peace and quiet." Diana then turned around and went into her palace as Liu Kang pulled both of the twin guards closer.

Liu Kang laughed and said, "Let's get a can opener to get that armor off of you two." Giggles could be heard from beneath of their golden helmets.


	8. Chapter 8: Deathstroke

CHAPTER 8: DEATHSTROKE

Back in the bustling city of Metropolis, Raiden had arrived much earlier than the man of steel. When the thunder god materialized he surveyed the area to find a team of masked men surrounding an elevated train. They each looked like Deathstroke, because each had a mask that was half black and half orange with a single eye.

The police were already on the scene with many reporters following the action. A police commander with fuzzy white hair yelled into a megaphone, "What are your demands Deathstroke!"

"Funding," cried out a snaky voice from the top of the train. There were dozens of masked men, each armed with a katana, a machine gun and a bad temper. Deathstroke himself walked to the edge of the train he stood upon to look the police in the eye. He then shouted, "My militia needs money! Unless I get that hundred-thousand dollars I asked for, I will start slaughtering citizens." He then looked at the watch on his wrist, "You have five more minutes!"

He stood atop a train with boarded windows. There was no escape for anyone inside with everything boarded up from the outside. In front of it wax a pair of wrecked cars that had somehow gotten on the elevated tracks. Behind the train was another pair of destroyed vehicles.

Each member of Team Deathstrike had different abilities from the last. One had the ability to channel energy and freeze objects; another had mechanical arms while one had twin blades that came from his forearms. Normally this would be considered a circus of freaks, but under the command of Deathstroke, they were an army that no mortal could defeat. The only way that Deathstroke himself stood apart from his clan of assassins was the fact that he alone wore a bandolier over his left shoulder.

The white haired police commander asked the men around him "Are the snipers in place?"

"They will be in five minutes," answered one of the heavily officers in black, "They're a little out of shape seeing as how Superman usually settles these things for us."

The commander looked to Deathstrike and wondered, "Where the Hell is he anyway?"

The snaky voice of Deathstrike yelled out, "Blind them!" Chattering machine guns could be heard as each member of Deathstroke Clan aimed for a single eye of each spectator.

Raiden stood by and watched the carnage as he always did. This time he was atop a building and unnoticed by anything but pigeons. One such pigeon fluttered its wings and landed gently on Raiden's shoulder only to get cooked by Raiden's electrical energy.

He was still topless from the long night before. His pointed hat was left at Diana's palace. Long gray hair streamed across Raiden's face.

The thunder god's white eyes looked down as he saw the mortals clutching a single eye. Citizens were perhaps clutching more than their eyes considering the brain is directly behind the sockets that were shot out.

After a moment more, Raiden's figure turned into a white light and he dematerialized only to appear atop of the train next to Deathstroke. The masked assassin turned around and quickly stabbed Raiden with his katana. The blood of the thunder god ran out of his back.

Deathstroke uttered in distain, "Raiden."

With that said the thunder god channeled electricity through both of his hands and sent Deathstroke flying backward as if he was thrown. The masked man landed somewhere unseen by Raiden who then pulled the katana out of his kidney. A normal man would be dying, but this god wouldn't die from such a pathetic wound.

Team Deathstrike realized who it was, one of them yelled out, "Raiden!" Another raspy voice said the obvious, "And he's gotta sword too!"

The race was to drop the passengers off, not save them from their prison. The thunder god could hear screams and pleas for help from inside of the tin can that he stood on. Those pleas soon went unheard over the sound of machine gun fire.

However, the thunder god was unconcerned considering that he cannot die. If only Deathstroke Clan knew this. Raiden sent his electrical energy down into the two cars that blocked the train. Both cars started up as if it had a key in the ignition, before Raiden realized there were no drivers inside to drive them off the tracks.

Raiden dematerialized and rematerialized on the track in front of the train. He was able to step on the center rail of the track which normally would electrocute a person. The thunder god then used his electrical power to shove the first wrecked car off the track.

That first car toppled to the empty street below and slammed into the concrete. While Raiden was distracted with that, a member of Deathstroke Clan appeared on top of the other car with his blade drawn.

Raiden hardly had any concern for him. Instead, the thunder god merely used his electrical energy to shove the car off of the rails like he had done before; this time with a masked man on top of it.

The car landed upside-down with the masked man sandwiched between the rusty metal of an olive green car and the pavement.

The thunder god then used his sword to lance through another masked man to silence the gun fire. The man clutched the sword in his chest as he fell over backward off of the track to the street below.

Then the train began to move, and Raiden pondered, "But how?" All of the windows were boarded up including the engineer's window.

Raiden dematerialized in the front of the train and rematerialized in the back to find the man of steel with his feet secured and his arms forward to push the train. The thunder god charged an electrical energy and touched Superman's ribs to zap him, but it did not affect the man of steel in his new suit.

As Superman grit his teeth pushing the train, he uttered, "You know, the city of Metropolis can use you for clean energy, because you're doing nothing to me."

The thunder god became enraged and the jade amulet around his neck glowed brightly. Energy from Superman's muscles began to weaken and he wondered, "This should be so easy pushing a train to the finish line."

"Perhaps this new suit of yours only has a delayed reaction," wondered Raiden who then threw Superman off of the edge of the train track.

Masked men climbed up staircases to get on top of the track where Raiden was. One of them was thrown off the track when he attacked Raiden, another was sizzled by his energy until the masked man's head exploded.

Raiden hoisted himself up to the top of the train and ran to the front where he used his electrical energy to propel the train forward. The elevated trains work on electrical current in the center rail and Raiden exploited this.

Superman climbed back onto the track by using the staircase. The man of steel was weak and weary, but undaunted. Raiden yelled out to him, "Once I've had her, you won't want her Superman."

"That doesn't matter," yelled the man of steel as he watched the train move forward. Superman was forced to run after the train like he was late for work. He finally caught up to the train and climbed to the top using the ladder.

Once he was standing, a mechanical arm grabbed his ankle and yanked his foot to the roof of the train. A mechanical member of Team Deathstrike rose up from behind the train. His arms were robotic and made of titanium.

Superman looked up to the masked man with mechanical arms that blocked out the sun. The mechanical arms then rose to the air and slammed down on the train roof just as Superman rolled away. He kept coming though, one after another the robotic arms smashed into the roof and Superman was forced to dodge them.

As for Raiden, his job as an engineer came to an abrupt end as two swords lanced through his back and came out of his chest. There was snaky laughter from behind him as the thunder god was lifted up into the air. Blood trailed on the blades as Raiden's impaled body slid down them. Behind him was the masked man with twin forearm spikes.

The thunder god held his sides in pain and kicked his legs to wiggle free. There was no getting loose, but after a moment of struggling, Superman's blue arm wrapped around the neck of the masked man to choke him. Raiden's tall body was dropped to the roof of the train again as the masked man struggled against the super hero.

Over the dead police commander's radio, a voice squawked over, "Snipers are in position. Need confirmation to take the shot." A gloved hand then grasped the radio in the commander's hand and pulled it away. Then a snaky voice uttered, "Take the shot."

The forearm spikes were drawn out of Raiden's body and the thunder god fell to the roof weak and weary. Behind Superman stood the mechanical armed man, and the man of steel used one masked man as a shield from the other.

Then a bullet whizzed through the air and pierced the chest of the mechanical armed man. A stream of blood spattered on the face of Superman as he still clutched one of the henchmen.

The half mechanical body fell to the roof with its arms sprawled out as Superman looked for who had made the shot. The man of steel was frantic with his gaze as he wondered to himself, "Why doesn't my vision work?"

Then as he said out loud, "Someone must have kryptonite," a metal hand grabbed his foot again. The mechanical man was shot through his human heart, but continued to struggle against death.

Superman's shield struggled free and shoved him off of the train. The man of steel toppled cape first over the edge and he landed on the top of a police car twenty feet below.

Another sniper bullet was sent through the chest of the other masked man. Then a third bullet lanced through the back of Raiden who was already hunched over. The immortal's body spun sideways so when he fell over he faced the towering skyscrapers of Metropolis.

Meanwhile, on the street below, Superman was slowly getting up. He held his head and sat up from the wreckage. With a wince of pain he coughed and rolled off the car to the pavement. After a moment, the man of steel pushed himself off the ground only to see the barrel of Deathstroke's gun pointed at his head.

In Deathstroke's other hand was the commander's radio. Deathstroke then wondered, "Doesn't Kryptonite make you mortal like the rest of these victims?"

In a flash of light atop the train, Raiden disappeared. High atop a building Raiden rematerialized behind two swat officers. The two officers noticed the bright light behind them and heard the sound of thunder crackle. When they looked, they were shocked to see a towering Raiden. One officer had the sniper rifle and the other had a walkie-talkie.

Raiden's voice boomed down to them, "You've made your god angry." He put his hands on their heads and screamed to the sky above. A lightning volt then came out of a bright and sunny day and lanced into Raiden. The energy from the heavenly volt charged the officers enough for their heads to explode under Raiden's big hands.

After their bodies hit the ground, Raiden uttered, "Fatality." He then waved his arms and appeared in a lightning bolt.

Back on the street, Deathstroke's gun was still pointed at the man of steel's head. The trigger pulled and a bullet in the barrel launched out. The gun's body kicked back and Superman threw a giant plastic S that originated from his chest.

The plastic S netted Deathstroke with the bullet he had fired. As Deathstroke clamored to escape the giant net, he screamed, "I've never seen this before!"

Superman quipped to himself, "The last time I used that was twenty-five years ago against General Zod." He then looked up to the train as he continued, "Its one of my only non super powers." Then he added, "Oh and just for the record, I've picked up an entire island with a knife of kryptonite in me." As the man of steel looked up to the train, he quietly said, "This is something different."

With that said Superman ran to the nearest support leg of the train track a few hundred feet away and began to climb. Deathstroke however, remained struggling against the giant plastic tarp that covered him.

After Superman was halfway up his climb, a red light caught his attention. The train started to roll forward with Raiden atop of it. Superman looked to the train that was a few hundred feet away from his support beam.

The red light was attached to a device centered beneath of the tracks. Once Superman realized, "It's a bomb," Deathstroke's katana sliced out of the plastic tarp that covered him. Superman shouted, "Stop!"

The thunder god merely laughed, "I've won and you know it!"

Superman continued to climb the leg of the support closer and closer to the bomb at the center. He yelled out, "You win! You can have Princess Diana! Just stop the train." The man of steel was a superhero again. That was his priority.

By this time, the squeaking metal wheels clouded Superman's strong voice. Raiden couldn't hear the man of steel; he only had Princess Diana in his mind. He and Diana were on a beach in his mind. They were both in togas and he was holding her close. Her hair waved in the wind and he made out with her.

That is all he could see as he held his arms out to charge the train and propel it forward toward the support beam with the bomb beneath.

Superman used all of the might in his mortal body to inch across the support beam to the bomb. His body dangled beneath the tracks above the street. Deathstroke stepped out of the plastic tarp with his katana in one hand and his gun in the other as the train crept closer to its eminent doom.


	9. Chapter 9: Kitty

CHAPTER 9: KITTY

Underneath of Deathstroke's outfit is a single eyed man named Slade Wilson. He was an above average man even before a military accident left him with superhuman strength.

Deathstroke had his gun drawn and snuck forward toward Superman that dangled above the city street. The man of steel was unsure how to deal with a bomb without his superpowers. Normally he could just hurl the bomb into space and use his laser vision to detonate it.

Superman used his human might to hoist himself up to the steel girder to deal with the bomb. While he was up there he discovered that it was as simple as opening the face and flipping the switch to off. The red light dimmed and a new green light lit up with text beneath of it that read, "Unarmed."

The man of steel commented, "I remember the days where villains made their own bombs instead of buying the store bought kind."

The people in the train were safe as the tin can rumbled over Superman's head. Unheard by the man of steel was the blast of Deathstroke's gun. Superman dropped like a stone off of the girder to the pavement and even under Deathstroke's mask his smile could be seen.

With glory and pride swelled up inside of him, Deathstroke slowly approached the man of steel. Slade stood tall and his smile could still be seen from beneath of his mask. Another member of the Deathstrike Clan approached the man of steel as well. This Deathstrike Clan member had arms that were made of ice and emitted a frozen haze from them.

Deathstroke uttered with his snaky voice, "I wonder what the bounty on this one is."

The train sped away in the distance of the next curve in the track as the two Deathstrikers stood over Superman's body. The man of steel had been shot through the right side. The bullet went clean through, but it was not a flesh wound. He was dying on the city street at a mortal. His breaths grew heavy and slow as more Deathstrike Clan members came over to see the death of a superhero.

Eventually, Raiden's voice roared with his victorious laughter. The train stopped at the final destination and the thunder god forced the train doors open. One of the first people off the train was so happy to get off that she hugged the thunder god only to be electrocuted to death. The Metropolanites merely stepped over her smoking corpse and Dan Forden shouted, "Toasty!"

Another man commented, "We were saved by father time!" The man next to him offered his hand to shake for a job well done. Raiden never reached for the man's hand, because of what would happen. Instead the man grew offended, "Why won't you shake my hand? I don't have a disease."

Raiden laughed, "Foolish mortal." The man then grabbed Raiden's electrically charged hand and was shocked to death. Raiden then shook his head and said, "This is why I look like a beggar, so everyone thinks I am the one diseased and they will not touch me."

A brunette filed off of the train and just as she left the door, she began to wave her hand to fan herself. With a dry throat she said, "Palpitations. My heart is palpitating." She then fell to the ground and if Raiden had pupils they would have rolled.

Raiden told her, "Get up, you do not have palpitations." People passed by her with no one helping her to her feet.

"Yes I do," said the woman slumped over, "It's from seeing such a tall strapping man." She had her forearm up to her forehead as she closed her eyes.

"I am no man," uttered Raiden, "I am a god."

The woman's eyes opened and looked at his bare chest, "Oh yes Sir you are a god!" Then she gestured, "What's with the tacky jewelry?"

On Raiden's bare chest was a jade medallion of a dragon symbol. The thunder god informed her, "It was given to me in order to restore and maintain my power."

"It looks like Kryptonite," commented the woman.

Meanwhile, Superman was busy being beaten by several members of the Deathstrike Clan. It was like being abused by a gang of clones.

Raiden asked her, "How would you know what that is?"

"I use to date a guy that was obsessed with it," said the brunette with her high voice, "We got stuck on an island a few years back and it was just seeing too much of one another I think. My days as a bimbo beauty girlfriend to one of the world's richest men had to end. That's when I realized money isn't everything. Dating him shortened my life from all of the stress."

She then whaled, "Oh my heart can't take these bad memories Mr. God."

Raiden wondered, "What do you want me to do about it?"

"There's a hospital a few blocks from here," she said in an achy voice.

The thunder god uttered, "I am not a taxi."

"My heart palpitations," she said, before her body went limp and she fainted in the doorway of the el train. One of the men behind Raiden commented, "Man what an actress! I've never seen any woman try that hard to get a date!"

Another woman sniped, "What if she really did and that thunder god let her die!"

A young blonde woman clutching a newborn bellowed, "I thought gods were supposed to save their people."

Raiden calmly tried to state, "I am the god of thunder. I do little to directly affect people."

A woman in the crowd yelled, "But ya still have the power to don't you jerk?"

"Now I see what Superman goes through," muttered the thunder god, before he said, "I will save her! Now everyone stand back!" The crowd of people cheered. His arms parted to clear the people away. Electrical energy surged across his body as he knelt down to her. He then told everyone, "I have only done this a few times before." Then he said to himself silently, "And if she's lying, it will kill her."

He yelled, "Clear!" Then he put his hands on her chest and sent electrical energy into her body. She instantly came to and was breathing heavily. Her eyes fluttered open and she clutched her heart as Raiden pulled away from her.

She uttered, "Oh. My. My heart feels invigorated; rejuvenated even!" The brunette woman began to rise to her feet with the aide of some of the crowd of people. She said, "I feel so much younger even." One of the men in the crowd yelled, "You don't look it!"

The brunette shouted, "Shut up!" She shoved the man to the side and stepped closer to Raiden and uttered, "My name is Miss. Kitty Kowalski and if there's any way that I can repay you, don't hesitate to ask."

Raiden didn't know what to say, but then he stated, "I have something else I need to go do." The thunder god then bolted from the area in a big crackle of lightning that slammed down onto the train platform through his body.

"Men, they do a job, but they always leave ya," said Miss. Kowalski as she shook her head.

As for Superman, he was busy being beaten and clubbed by the Deathstrike Clan in the street. Normally Deathstroke would have merely assassinated the man of steel and ended it in a second, but he was being more creative now that he had his own clan.

One clan member would freeze Superman, only to have another member superheat him with a flame tongue. The new suit protected him from a death from a death by magic.

When Deathstroke was through having his fun he ordered his men, "It is not enough that we kill the man of steel. It would mean so much more to steal his soul!"

Through the crowd of masked men stepped another member whose arms swirled with a magical green mist. Superman nearly laughed as he said, "Your magic will do nothing against my new super suit."

Deathstroke drew his sword as he informed Superman, "Then we shall cut it off of you!" As the man of steel struggled against the Deathstrike Clan, Deathstroke uttered, "We shall see if everything on you is super."

Then with the trust of his katana, he tried to jam it into Superman's bullet wound. Instead of slicing straight into Superman's side, the blade slipped to the left. There was trivial laughter at Deathstroke's failure.

The masked leader of the clan raised the blade over his head to perhaps slice Superman completely in half. Instead, shock and panic overtook the masked clan as Superman shoved away the two men that held him. One of the men ended up on the ground while another hit a steel support beam.

An entire clan of men tried running away as their leader sliced his sword down on Superman's head to cut him in twain. The blade broke and sparks were sent off from his body. The man of steel commented, "You should have killed me when you had the chance."

"I'll have to try kryptonite bullets next time," said Deathtstroke as he threw the remnants of his sword to the side.

Superman informed him, "There's not going to be a next time." The Deathstrike Clan had completely cleared the area as Deathstroke himself had taken a step back to pull out his gun. The automatic machine gun was quickly fired straight into Superman's face. A blaze of gunfire and a deafening sound that rattled the gun, but didn't harm Superman.

The bullets merely bounced off in every direction before Superman swats the gun aside and lifted his other mighty fist. He then drove his fist into the top of Deathstroke's head and then followed up with the other hand. If the ground were softer, it would have driven Deathstroke into the ground like a tent stake. Instead, because of the pavement, it merely fractured Deathstroke's spine, then broke his shins and gave him compound fractures.

The masked man screamed in pain as his body crumpled to the ground. Superman stopped his beating of Deathstroke and commented, "As a superhero I'm legally bound in these United States not to kill you."

Deathstroke looked up with a scream, "What? Don't leave me like this!"

"I think being in a paraplegic for the rest of your life would be a fitting punishment," commented Superman, before he added, "You killed how many good officers of the Metropolice police department?"

The masked man held his head and screeched, "You fractured my skull!"

"It serves you right," quipped Superman, "You ruined my chances of a date with Wonder Woman and you shot through my new super suit!"

Deathstroke coughed up blood that was unseen because of his mask. He then said, "I'll still die from a brain hem ridge!"

"Fine," Superman huffed, "I'll drop you off at a hospital."

After that was said, the man of steel lifted the masked man off the ground and flew with him in the air. Moments later, Deathstroke was dropped off in front of an emergency room covered in snow. It wasn't snowing in Metropolis though.

When Superman dropped him off, the man of steel quipped, "Don't worry Deathstroke, the people of Russia will offer you the finest medical care they can provide." Then the man of steel hurled himself into the sky.

Deathstroke was left shaking his hand in the air as he screamed, "Superman!"

Once that was done, Superman flew like a fired bullet to Themyscira. The man of steel gently touched down in front of Diana's balcony the way he had done so many times before. The balcony he landed on was the one he and Raiden had destroyed during their battle. There was now a temporary wooden frame there.

Landing there avoided the guards and Superman was free to walk in to find his princess there with his rival. Wonder Woman was in a tiny toga with a tiara in her hair with Raiden still topless without his triangular hat.


	10. Chapter 10: Scorpion

CHAPTER 10: SCORPION

Superman had trekked his way through the main hall and passed by the guards in golden armor. None of them seemed too concerned with him, because they have all seen him so many times before. The great hall was big and elaborated with red drapes that lined the walls from the ceiling to floor. A gentle breeze drifted through the hall and made each drape shift.

The man of steel found himself to the sheer curtains at the end of the main hall. These lead to Princess Diana's sleeping chamber. He knew the way and he knew this is where the princess spent most of her days with or without him. In a perfect society there was really no reason to get out of bed each day.

He stood at the archway and looked in to see Raiden and Wonder Woman canoodling. They were nuzzled together with Raiden's body giving her a joyful shock every so often that provoked a giggle.

She was there in a tiny toga with a tiara in her hair with Raiden still topless without his triangular hat. His long grey hair was held up by a few sticks lanced through. There was no one else in the chamber as they lounged on a massive white bed made of pillows. Above the bed was a round canopy and chiffon draped down.

Wonder Woman noticed Superman and yelled, "Don't you ever knock?"

"Gee Diana," uttered the man of steel, "If your Amazonian society had some doors, I would." He then noticed the green medallion still on Raiden's chest.

"Doors are very confining," she said as she hugged onto Raiden's waist. She then elaborated, "Doors are the gateway to lies, which is why we here on Themyscira do not like them and also why the World of Man has them."

There was a minor shock of electricity that jumped from Raiden's body into Princess Diana's into her stomach and her inner thighs. She said with a smile, "Oo Raiden!"

Superman commented, "That armor your guards wear certainly looks confining." Superman clutched his stomach and looked ill, perhaps from seeing his princess with Raiden once more. The princess had concern over how sick Superman looked.

Raiden's white eyes looked to Superman as his voice boomed, "All of these women," he then paused, "Enjoy being confined when they are forced to be." He then glanced down to the princess at his side and zapped her with his electricity, before Raiden added, "Especially Princess Diana."

The god of thunder then released a few more jolts that lead Wonder Woman to moan and whine from the intensity. Raiden then commented, "A mortal would be a smoldering chunk of meat right now." After a moment he added, "You should let us have some privacy and allow me to have the spoils of victory."

Superman quipped, "There is nothing spoiled about Diana, even if her expiration date was 1960s when the women of America broke the mold and became more than just housewives."

Raiden gave a bold laugh so hearty that it made the sky outside flicker. He proclaimed, "I laugh at you Superman, if it were not for Wonder Woman the women of America would not have stayed in the workforce after the war ended. There would be no inflation in America. Families would not have to have both parents working instead of one."

The man of steel wondered, "How does the Chinese God of Thunder know so much about American macro economics?"

Electricity coursed through Raiden's eyes and jumped off to the side. His voice boomed, "I know all!" His voice then softened as he stated, "Especially how to please this pretty princess of mine." Raiden's gaze grew harsh at Superman as he shouted, "Now leave us!"

A small swirl of darkened red clouds began to form behind Superman. The swirl grew larger until Raiden noticed. The god of thunder threw Wonder Woman from his side and rose up to his feet on the white bed.

As the swirl continued to grow larger, Superman clenched his fists and took a fighting stance. He then uttered, "I'm ready for another round Raiden."

Raiden had laughter in his voice as he uttered, "You fool."

The darkened red clouds behind Superman continued to grow into a large circle. The clouds only faced Superman and Raiden. If someone were behind the swirling clouds they would be non existent if not invisible.

A black vortex appeared in the center of the swirling clouds as Raiden commanded Superman to, "Look behind you!" The man of steel saw it as a lame attempt to distract him.

Lightning sizzled from the center of the vortex as the portal grew to its maximum circumference. From the portal appeared a figure first completely dark, but then grew into a man as it leapt through.

With Superman distracted, he was shoved to the side by the momentum and anger of the new foe decorated in a fancy ninja garb. Raiden knew this foe well. He was a man once known as a husband and father. Now he was only known as Scorpion, a ninja that sought vengeance to kill the man that was responsible for the slaughter of his entire clan and family.

However, upon getting his revenge in a Mortal Kombat tournament, there was no indication of why he was there. The ninja stood there with his eyes glowing with yellow mist that poured down like tears. His mask was yellow and his garb was black for shadowy stealth. At the ninja's side was a chain that looped up his shoulder and then down his leg. The head of the chain was a sharp dagger like triangular spike at Scorpion's waist. On Scorpion's back was a sword that the angry specter quickly gripped.

Without much warning, Scorpion unsheathed his sword from over his shoulder and sliced at Superman's neck. The steel sword that had been forged for months by a blacksmith in Japan broke immediately from the man of steel's jugular.

Scorpion wasn't fazed, because there was no surprise or hesitation in a ninja of his caliber. Plus, the ninja had fought Superman before when the universes collided and he knew what to expect.

The yellow masked ninja lowered his body with his hands cupped then raised his body and hands to his standing height. Great flames rose up in the love nest that was Wonder Woman's bed.

Princess Diana leapt off and spun around with the twirl of her toga flashing more than the height of her legs. Raiden however was caught in the flames and screamed in agony from the magical fire.

The god of thunder was engulfed in fire that burned down Princess Diana's bed. As for the princess herself, she was doubled over in shock that her toga could be burnt to a crisp right then.

Superman had his wits about him and he was over the surprise of Scorpion's arrival. The man of steel jumped in with a flying punch, only to discover that the ninja leapt into the air himself toward Superman. The two met in a clash of leaping fists, but then the ninja vanished into an array of monarch butterflies.

The orange and black butterflies fluttered their wings and flew around the chamber before each one spontaneously combust. They each burnt to ash as Raiden rolled off of the burning bed.

Superman looked around the room as Raiden put out the fire from his clothes and Wonder Woman watched her bed burn down. Raiden uttered, "You will never say that our passion did not ever burn down your bed."

With Superman's fists clenched, he continued to look around. There was nothing but topless statues carved from marble. Behind those statues were columns that held up the ceiling. With each column there was a shadow behind it. He barked a question, "Where did that portal come from?"

Raiden looked around with his eyes seething and crackling with lightning. He answered, "I tried to warn you."

Suddenly, Scorpion's powerful voice shouted, "Get over here!" With that the ninja stepped out of a shadow behind a column and threw his dagger at the throat of Wonder Woman. As a reflex, she tried to block them with her gauntlets that were able to deflect gun fire.

She blocked the spear alright. Her reflexes were incredible, but she didn't have her gauntlets on. She screamed with a horrifying moan as the spear like dagger on a chain lanced through the two bones in her forearm.

Wonder Woman continued her scream as she winced in pain and cradled her forearm. Soon after that, Scorpion yanked her closer to him with a tug of the chain in his mighty undead arms.

Superman glared toward the ninja to use his heat vision. However, the man of steel was puzzled as his eyes remained blue and not red with lasers shooting out of them. He didn't hesitate to attack a different way though. He hurled himself into the air with his fist pulled back once again.

However, it was just a leap, a jump, a hop. He didn't fly through the air; he landed and looked shocked at what was happening to him. There were no super powers left in his body.

Scorpion didn't question what was happening; instead he dropped to the floor and used his legs to buckle the knees of Superman. With the ninja's legs wrapped around the man of steel's, Superman landed face first on a marble floor. Normally, that would hurt the floor and not Superman's square chin.

While doing this, the ninja maintained his grip on the chain and had jerked Wonder Woman when he hit the floor. With Scorpion still on the floor, he wrapped the slack of chain around the seemingly mortal Superman. Scorpion wrapped the chain around a few more times to make sure that Superman stayed gasping for oxygen.

Raiden fired off a jolt of lightning from his magical hands. The voltage had no affect on Superman, but momentarily shocked the body of Scorpion. The thunder god fired another lance of lightning into the ninja specter that sent it to the wall.

Scorpion remained against the wall with electrical energy surging through his body as Raiden charged an even more powerful shock. The thunder god's hands rotated around a focal point and created a ball of white light to seemingly blast the ninja through the wall.

However, Raiden wasted too much time with his chanting. Scorpion threw another spear like dagger with the other end of his chain at Raiden and lanced through his neck with a blood spurting hole. The dagger was clear out of Raiden's neck with the chain through it.

As electrical energy coursed through Raiden's body it zapped Superman's mighty neck and his love's tender forearm.

After the ninja looked over to the portal to realize that it was slowly shrinking, Scorpion grabbed Princess Diana with his forearm around her neck. There they were a metaphorical snake with Scorpion as the head dragging the three of them toward the portal with Diana in his clutches.

Raiden struggled with the other end of the chain as he clutched the chain with his bare hands. With the thunder god's electrical energy surging through the metal links, it made the others scream and wince in pain.

Superman yelled, "Do you have an off switch?" Four guards arrived with their spears in hand. Each one was absolutely, jaw droppingly shocked at what they saw before them. Three supreme beings tethered by one chain.

The portal's electrical energy was dissipating as the swirl of darkened red clouds shrank. As for the guards, they ran to the aid of their princess, but Scorpion swooped up the broken fragment of his sword and held it to her throat.

Smaller and smaller the portal was growing near a close before Scorpion stepped backward through it. His forearm wrapped around Princess Diana's neck was the last part of Scorpion they could see.

Princess Diana was then pulled through with her voice screaming and her legs kicking. The guards grabbed the chain as the portal shrank so much that it was only large enough for Diana's arm.

With the portal that small they let go of the chain so Diana's arm could get sucked through. The portal then closed and snapped the chain off.

Superman heaved the chain coil over his head and yelled, "Why did you let her slip through."

One of the guards answered for the group, "You proposed to her Kal-El. I am sure that you want her arm still on so that you can slip a ring onto her finger."

With a massive groan Raiden slowly pulled the dagger out of his neck and he fell to his knee with his hand on the ground. He rose up with his hand over the hole through his throat. One of the guards told him, "We have a healer well known for treating battle wounds."

Raiden stated, "I will not need your healer." When Raiden took his hand away, his neck was completely healed.

The man of steel remained weak and weary on the floor as the guards offered to help him up. Superman rose to his feet with his head shaking as he asked, "What just happened?"

Liu Kang walked into the chamber eating an apple once again. He saw all of the faces in despair and asked, "What did I miss?"

Raiden laid it out for him as bluntly as possible, "An evil undead ninja specter just stole Princess Diana from her bedroom through a portal."

Superman asked, "A portal to where? Did he take here to Out World?"

The thunder god paced around as he uttered, "Scorpion's home is Earthrealm." As Raiden walked past Superman the thunder god continued, "After he was killed by Sub-Zero, his new home became the Netherealm. It is a place where even the most just soul can become corrupt and tainted."

Superman felt his neck and winced in pain as he said, "How do we get there?"

"I have no powers outside of Earthrealm," stated Raiden, "I will be of no use there."

The man of steel uttered, "Well I have no powers here anymore it seems like. So I will take my chances in the Neatherealm."

Liu Kang took a bite of apple as he wondered, "I must admit that I am curious why Superman even had super powers in Outworld. I did my homework and you need Earthrealm's yellow sun to get your powers, not Outworld's purple sun." The Mortal Kombat champion then added, "Besides that Supe, you do not have access to a portal."

"Don't call me that," Superman uttered, before he added, "I have an old friend that used a portal to get his princess. Now I am going to borrow it to get my princess."

Raiden uttered, "There is one more thing you should know before you go."

Superman wondered, "What's that?"

"Scorpion did not act alone," said Raiden, "I suspect that someone else has motivated him to take Princess Diana." With that said, Superman stormed out of the chamber with his cape flailing behind him.

Liu Kang was left with Raiden and the Amazonians that were taller than he. "Do not fret Lord Raiden," said Liu Kang as he raised his hand to put it on Raiden's tall shoulder, "There are plenty of women in the sea."

Raiden's electrical body zapped Liu's hand before it ever touched the thunder god's shoulder. He was very soft spoken when he said, "I have another idea in mind how to get her back."

Liu questioned, "How is that?"

Raiden simply answered, "The same way that Superman became immune to my power." With that said, Raiden's body transformed into a white light and then vanished into the marble floor.

Liu Kang put his arms around two of the gold clad guardians and with a smile he asked, "So girls, now that we are alone, does anyone want to use that great big bed?" When they glanced at him he flared his eyebrows and took a bite of his apple with a smile.

One of the guards took Liu's right arm from around her shoulders and said, "Uh our princess has been kidnapped." The other guard to his left did the same adding, "With Raiden gone, our hospitality to you is as well."

The third guard walked ahead of them, but she turned around to comment, "And besides that lover, the bed is on fire." It was true; the chiffon that was draped above the bed still smoldered and had small flames that still burned.

The three guards marched out of the head and left the chamber, leaving Liu alone with the last guard. He asked her, "So what do you think?"

She faced him and glanced at him gently from inside the security of her golden helmet and said, "I hear that you've burned down a few beds around here." Her head gently sighed as she licked her top lip ever so slightly. It was an appealing idea to her as she looked to what was left of her princess's bed.

The guard then commented, "I'm still on duty though. I'm sorry." She then turned to catch up to the others, but she gave a little wave to the Mortal Kombat champion. Her green eyes sparkled from inside her helmet and showed her smile with big happy grin full of pearly teeth. She ran with her spear to catch up to the other three as she shouted "Maybe next time champ!"


	11. Chapter 11: Shang Tsung

CHAPTER 11: SHANG TSUNG

Aboard a subway car on an abandon track that raced beneath the city's surface, Raiden stood in one of the front windows. This time he had his pointy hat on and he was in full garb. White robes with a blue tunic over it. His eyes flashed with a white electrical energy as the train streamed through the passageway that leads toward the Rock of Eternity.

Seated behind Raiden was Liu Kang that had his back to the wall of the car. He had one leg curled up and his foot was flat on the seat next to him. The Mortal Kombat champion uttered, "I still do not understand that this is Captain Marvel." Then he shook his head dumbfounded and added, "I cannot believe we kidnapped a kid!"

Across from Liu Kang was young, twelve year-old Billy Baston with duct tape over his mouth and his hands handcuffed behind his back. With the duct tape over his mouth, the boy could not yell out "Shazam!" He could not turn into Captain Marvel, nor could he peel the duct tape off of his mouth.

Raiden's voice boldly commented, "We did not kidnap him, he is our guide to the Rock of Eternity." Liu still was dumbfounded and couldn't wrap his head around the fact that a twelve year-old boy was the handsome, hunky Captain Marvel.

After quite some time, the train finally stopped at its mysterious destination. All three of them exited the train, leading the way was Billy. Raiden watched the boy's every movement, while Liu Kang merely looked around to the strange and wondrous cavern.

At the center of the large chamber was the brazier to summon Shazam. The brazier was already lit and a mist of green smoke wafted through the chamber. Shazam was around there somewhere, he must have been, so Billy began to scan the room with his eyes looking for the elderly wizard ghost.

Liu Kang still ogled the statues with his eyes. Each of the six statues was of a different man that Liu Kang had never seen the likes of before. He then commented, "Green smoke? Towering statues of six warriors in a secret cavern, this place looks like it belongs to Quan Chi." After a pause to look at a statue of a man with giant muscles, Liu added, "Or worse."

A shrill voice corrected him, "They are not warriors youngling. They are gods." There was a snide and shrill chuckle as the three of them looked to where the voice came from. From the shadows stepped a thin bag of bones that wore a long white toga dingy with dirt and grime. His white beard draped down his chest and his white hair covered his back. His bald scalp was large and noticeable.

Then the frail man looked to young Billy in duct tape and handcuffs. The old wizard Shazam began to convulse a bit, before he composed himself. He then licked his lips while closing his eyes. When he opened his eyes, he greeted the boy, "Billy. You are bound and gagged." With a deep swallow of his throat he tried to compose himself, "I never. That is just something I never thought about doing to you."

Liu Kang's mouth grew open with a shocked smile at what was going on. Then he looked up to the statues of men to see they were barely clothed. Each one had a bare chest with their muscles rippling; even the more slender of statues had lean muscles chiseled into the rock. He then uttered, "I think I get it!"

Shazam's head wagged as he snapped out of it and snipped, "Get what?"

The champ said in shock, "You must be Shazam!"

"Of course," snipped Shazam, "But who are the two of you?" With a panting breath the ghastly Shazam approached Liu Kang and said, "Wait. Wait, I know who you are. This must be your master's treat. His star pupil, young, with exquisite muscles on your thin frame." The ghost of Shazam caressed Liu Kang's shoulders and with the lick of his lips, Shazam uttered, "You. You have very good taste in pupils." Shazam's jaw twisted and contorted as he looked around Liu Kang's ears and neck. The creepy wizard then added, "You have such a tasty ward."

Raiden's eyes glared at the elderly wizard. Electricity coursed to the side from his eyes and his voice boldly stated, "We are here, because I need your help." Lightning crackled along Raiden's body.

Shazam wondered, "And to you, who have brought me Billy Baston so neatly gift wrapped, I appreciate this wonderful gesture, but I am busy helping someone else at the moment."

The champ wondered, "Who would that be?"

"A sorcerer of my own caliber," uttered Shazam with almost a giggle.

A voice came from behind one of the statues as it approached the main chamber, "Liu Kang, I thought that I smelled your breeze of arrogance."

Liu recognized the voice and took a fighting stance immediately. A graying man walked with a purpose out of the shadows from another shadow. He looked to be in an unnaturally good shape considering how old his face and hair looked. His stance and posture dictated how confident he was with his arms folded. His graying goatee was at the end of his chin. He wore a regal black garb made of snake skin with golden trim and dark bronze colored pants. There were several golden designs on the side of each leg of his pants.

From the shadows came two beautiful women. One with golden hair that draped down her back and the other with very long raven colored hair that covered everything it needed to in the front of her skinny body. On the arms of the raven haired woman were twin arm bands and not much else on her body as she hid somewhat behind the sorcerer.

As for the blonde with her hair not there to cover everything that was there. She had an orange sarong, sheer and wrapped around her waist with the thick portion to the side. The blond too was behind and clutched onto the sorcerer's other arm.

The champ was angry and wondered, "Who are they?"

"They are some of," said the graying old man before he exhaled a breath, "The simple pleasures in life. They are two of my followers in Tsung-ism."

Liu Kang repeated in disgust, "Tsung-ism?"

"You follow your god Raiden," assertively uttered the sorcerer, before he gave a hush tone, "And they follow me."

Raiden's voice boomed, "That is sacrilege Tsung."

"No," barked the sorcerer, "Sacrilege is having my magical powers that rival a god and not being worshiped."

Liu Kang kept his fighting stance and asked, "How could you have even gotten here? We left you in Outworld!"

"I was," said Shang Tsung as calmly as possible, "But did you think that Earthrealm would have the only portal that could take you here? This miser Shazam has gateways all over the universe that would lure in those looking for power."

Mortal Kombat's champion nearly boiled over being in the presence of his nemesis. Shang Tsung however, was calm and collected, even in the presence of the man that defeated him for the finale of the Mortal Kombat tournament.

Shazam noticed the hostility between the two of them and the elderly wizard stepped between them. He then uttered, "Please, my sanctuary is a place of peace and love. I would not want this young ward to bruise his beautiful body."

Raiden's voice boomed, "What sinister purpose do you have for being here Shang Tsung?"

From behind Shang Tsung came an unholy howl. A whale of something that sounded both humanoid and animalistic. The tone grew deeper as the howls continued. Shang Tsung's followers grew scared and postured themselves around their master as they looked to the chamber behind them.

The sorcerer glanced to Liu Kang with a shrewd knowledge, "Baraka is becoming advanced." With a whispered tone of his voice, Tsung commented, "He is going to be even more angry after his transformation. It sounds quite painful."

The howls and groans were wild, erratic and fear enduing as one of Tsung's followers fell to the ground with a panic. She began to squirm and crawl backward away from the opening. Shang Tsung and his other follower then stepped aside from the opening to the other chamber. He then informed them, "I am using Baraka as a test subject to see if this is worth my time."

There were no more howls, no more groans, no more whaling from the other chamber. Instead there was deep breathing. It was ghastly breathing from a massive exhaling beast that was shrouded in darkness.

As the follower on the ground began to scurry toward Shang Tsung for safety, the beast marched out. From the shadows came what was once known as Baraka, a mutated humanoid from Outworld from a species known as the Tarkatan. These Tarkatans were known to have forearm spikes that could lance out of their arms. They were also known for their long dagger-like teeth and lust for blood. In Outworld, Baraka was the leader of his pack, but followed the orders of his emperor.

But now, Baraka was taller, with more body mass and a darker tone of tougher skin. His shoulders were broader, his muscles were bigger, and his face was uglier and barely recognizable. Now his body was covered with rigid, bony spikes that went upward from the back of each one of his ribs like twin saw blades. His forearms had more bony spikes that protruded and pointed forward. Still inside of his forearms were the long blades that had yet to be unsheathed. Beyond the bony spikes his forearms and hand were a fleshless meaty red. The claws at the end of his finger tips were like daggers and perfect for climbing or killing, preferably killing. He was anything but beautiful and the humanoid had become more like a beast.

Angry and in pain from his transformation, he punished the woman in front of him. He lanced her spine with one of his long forearm spikes. The stab was so powerful, his forearm spike stuck into the rock beneath her. She was left gasping for air and choking up blood as she lied flat on her stomach.

Then the brute stepped on her neck with his left foot. Its toe claws dug into her, as its hideous head lowered. Gobs of drool fell from its mouth as his maw opened wide. Its jaw disconnected like a snakes so it could fit the back of her skull in its mouth.

Baraka's dagger teeth bit down onto the back of her skull and chomped down until her skull crushed between his jaws ending her life to Tsung-ism. The other woman was horrified and took off running for the subway car.

However, she had to run past Baraka. The doubly mutated Tarkatan perked up with skull and brain in his mouth. Blood poured down his chin as he gave a forearm swipe with his free left hand that sliced her head clean off and dropped her beautiful body to the dust covered floor. Her head collided with the floor somewhere by Shang Tsung's feet.

With an echo of laughter from the other chamber, Shang Tsung cackled, "Try to tell him that yours is a place of love and peace Shazam!" The sorcerer had disappeared, leaving the Tarkatan monster to glare its beady red eyes at Liu Kang and Raiden. Behind the two of them was the young morsel of food known as Billy Baston.


	12. Chapter 12: Baraka

CHAPTER 12: BARAKA

In Shazam's subterranean cavern, there stood two heroes. One was a god, but the other was the greatest mortal champion of Earth. They were the only thing that stood between a massive, hulking Super Baraka and Billy Baston.

The main chamber of the cavern was filled with a green mist from the lit brazier. There were rock formations that towered over their heads that held up the ceiling. Six statues of Greek gods looked down upon them, chiseled out of rock.

Baraka continued to gaze his raging eyes at the boy, who would be a snack to a beast as tall as him. Liu Kang was short for a mortal man, Raiden was one of the tallest men on his human form, but Baraka was taller than that, even when he was hunched over. The bony spikes on his body pointed toward the ceiling as there was a dead calm in the smoky air.

To the forearm spike that was gored through the first female victim, Baraka pulled it out of her with a horrifying slice and a crunch of her spine. The beast like Baraka growled as his posture lowered, before a vicious charge toward Liu Kang and Raiden.

The mutated super-beast launched its body forward with a leap. He shoved the champion and thunder god aside. Liu flew to the right and Raiden went left, while Baraka's head went straight forward after Billy. With Baraka's arms still stretched out, the heroes grabbed onto Baraka's arms and restrained him from devouring the twelve year-old boy in front of him.

Billy's mouth was still covered with duct tape and his arms were behind him in cuffs. The same way he was when Liu Kang and Raiden brought the boy into this mysterious cavern.

Baraka's long teeth were so close to Billy's face as the boy ducked and winced in fear. The grotesque, sticky tongue of Baraka exited the beast's mouth and caressed Billy's cheek and hair. Baraka was hungry for another kill. His blood lust needed to be quenched with a boy's blood.

The two heroes struggled to restrain Baraka from going any further as Liu yelled, "Run!"

Once Billy took off, Baraka was angered at being restrained. The super-beast spun its body around and sent the heroes hurtling away. Then Baraka unsheathed both of his forearm blades with a gleaming mess of metal, bone and blood that was his massive body.

When Baraka stopped spinning, his head jolted to the direction of Raiden who landed smashed into the wall. Baraka tore across the rocky floor toward the thunder god only to see Raiden disappear in a flash of white light as the terror's forearm blade swiped at Raiden's head.

Without warning, Liu Kang went flying through the air and landed perfectly on Baraka's back, between the super-beast's twin saw-like spikes that went up each one of his ribs. Kang's forearm wrapped around the beast's neck and his other arm struggled to keep that position.

Baraka's body jerked around with Liu's legs clutched around the super-beast's hollow stomach. Liu's legs were beneath of Baraka's ribs and safe from the back spikes of the mutated Tarkatan.

After a moment of violently spinning around from left to right, Baraka's hands flew up toward his back with his elbows curled. The forearm blades tried to stab into Liu Kang's head or shoulders, but the warrior in red dropped off to the ground.

The beast's left blade took a swipe at the champion, but Liu Kang ducked beneath of it and then dodged the right blade as Baraka tried to skewer him. Baraka's bare foot then came from the side with a spin of the super-beast's body. The kick sent Liu Kang face first to the dusty floor.

A deep exhale sent dust blowing from the floor. The warrior in red rolled away, just before Baraka's foot stomped the ground. There was a second stomp from Baraka's other foot. It was a near miss as Liu Kang kept rolling away.

The super-beast gave a roar in the air as he crossed his forearm blades. Liu Kang's foot came up from the ground and crashed into the side of Baraka's head. That did nothing to distract Baraka, but instead he became distracted when Raiden zapped him with a volt of lightning from elsewhere in the chamber.

Baraka was distracted and turned around to see Raiden charge another blast. The mutated Tarkatan clashed his two forearm blades together and slid them apart, sending a large spark toward the thunder god.

The spark toss did nothing as Raiden canceled it out with his powerful energy. Angered, the super-beast turned back to Liu Kang who rose from the ground. Baraka took the Mortal Kombat champion by the neck and flung him across the chamber at Raiden. With a scream in the air, Raiden disappeared into a white beam of energy only to have Liu Kang crash into the rock floor.

Once Liu Kang landed Raiden resurfaced where he stood from a white outline of his figure. Baraka pushed off of the floor with his forearm blades and dove feet first toward Raiden.

This time, Raiden physically dodged the attack, instead of magically avoiding it. The beast took a swipe at Raiden and slashed through his chest with a spray of red blood that painted the floor and the alter at the center. It was a wound that would have severed a mortal man in half.

The thunder god clutched his chest and the super-beast got to one knee as he sliced his blades in the air at Raiden, who then held his arms in front of his face with his elbows bent. This way Raiden conjured a magical wall that stopped from shredding him. The electro-magnetic wall gave off a blue light each time it was struck by Baraka's blades.

With all of this use of his power in a single day, even a god was wearing down. The long blades went back into Baraka's forearms and he reached out for Raiden's broad neck. Raiden's arms couldn't block the red and meaty forearm of the attacker when the thunder god concentrated on maintaining his magic.

The Tarkatan then dragged around Raiden as he kicked and screamed for Baraka to, "Let me go!" Instead of complying, Baraka merely looked down to a humble Raiden that looked up at the super-beast as if to call him, "Master." Then Baraka looked over to a wall where Billy stood helpless and shocked as he watched the entire thing.

There was a snarl and a growl from Baraka's wide throat. With Raiden still in his powerful grip, Baraka took off toward Billy across the chamber. The boy stood wide eyed and still in shock as the hulking Tarkatan charged at him.

Before Baraka could nab him, Liu Kang dashed in and dove into the boy. They both disappeared from Baraka's sight and the Tarkatan slammed into one of the statues. The beast was hardly groggy afterward, but Raiden took this opportunity to disappear in a flash of white light that left his outline before it dissipated from Baraka's grasp.

Raiden reappeared in front of Baraka and with his big hands on the side of the beast's ugly head, electrical energy flowed between them. A current of electricity lit up Raiden's hands and crackled as the voltage want into Baraka's grotesque head. The beast howled in pain with its jaws opened wide.

There was Raiden with his pointed had looking up to the beast's head. White energy coursed through Raiden's body as it jumped into Baraka's head. The mighty Tarkatan's forehead was covered with bony spikes that went up and curved around its skull.

This was not the end of Baraka though, because after the unholy howl, he battered his head down into Raiden's. The thunder god fell backward like a tree that was cut down. Baraka then put his clawed foot on Raiden's chest and looked down to him with drool leaking from his mouth.

Baraka's blades were sheathed as he lowered his fleshless red forearms down to Raiden's chest. His fists were side by side and compressed Raiden to the rocky ground even more.

With a scream, Raiden's body dissipated into a white light and Baraka's blades shot out from his forearms. The blades were jammed into the ground, both of them, but Raiden was gone from the beast's clutches.

Instead, Liu Kang was on the offensive. With a Chinese scream, the mortal warrior's feet pounded into Baraka's face over and over again. It was as if he was dancing or stomping into the flat nose of Baraka, driving his bulky body backward with its blades still stuck in the rock below.

There was blood that flowed from Baraka's nose and a bloody left eye from Liu Kang's boot. The super-beast fell to one knee as Liu Kang's body flipped from Baraka's face. Liu Kang's body rotated heels over head and he landed on one knee, facing the red eyes of the beast.

Deep breaths come from Baraka's open mouth. There were three, then the beast shook off the pain as blood flowed like syrup from his nose. He was enraged and began to pull his forearm spikes from the ground one-by-one.

Once the beast was free, Liu Kang came from one direction and Raiden came from the other. Liu Kang's left foot was out as he flew through the air, while Raiden hurled his entire body head first toward the big Tarkatan.

Liu's foot collided with Baraka's head hard enough to leave a dusty footprint. Meanwhile, Raiden's torpedo of a maneuver slammed into Baraka's body at the same time. A foot to the head and an attack to the side of Baraka's mid-section, between his ribs and hip.

The Tarkatan fell again, this time to his hands and knees. However, it was not enough to affect him for very long. Liu Kang was quick to throw his feet at the face of Baraka. The kicks were blocked by Baraka's skinless hands and the beast rose to his feet once again.

Baraka then threw a punch at Liu Kang and the mortal warrior dodged the attack. The statue behind him didn't move though and Baraka chipped off a chunk of the statue's leg. He followed up by trying to bite into Liu Kang, but the warrior was too quick.

When the Tarkatan pulled his arms back away from the statue he shoved his fists forward at Liu's chest. Liu was too quick for him though. He moved back and out of the reach of the fleshless red fists.

There was a moment where Liu smiled in the ugly face of the mutant, but then the twin forearm blades shot forward and had Liu's head between them. It was a scary moment for Liu, his face turned to fright as he slipped his forearms between the two blades. Each forearm wore a metal plate to guard his forearms from such attacks.

He had slipped his metal bracers next to his neck and prevented his head from being cut off by a pair of scissors. It did not prevent his neck from being squeezed and crushed between the might of the hulking Tarkatan though.

Raiden's body rose from behind the menacing attacker and he sent a jolt of lightning from his hands and into Baraka's red eyes. The beast whaled with pain and Liu Kang was freed from the scissoring forearms.

Baraka blindly swiped at anything as Liu Kang back flipped out of the way of the twin blades. The damaged statue had its legs sliced into by the berserk Tarkatan. Slices and swipes sent sparks from the statue as rock was chipped away.

The statue of Mercury began to crumble at the legs and fall from its position against the chamber wall. Liu Kang had stopped fleeing the fury of forearm blades when he looked up to see the tall statue falling toward him. Weak, weary and tired from doing so many back flips, the champion curled up his body and screamed as the statue fell down.

Before Liu Kang could be smashed beneath of the statue it wedged itself at an angle. The head of Mercury came face-to-face with Liu who looked up from below his forearms as he stayed huddled in fear. The green smoke swirled upward from the force of the statue that plunged through it. Liu was safe and he let out a laugh of relief.

With an angry hiss of air from Baraka's mouth, the Tarkatan leapt high into the air and landed on the middle of the statue. It was a forceful impact that sent Liu from laughter into fear again as Baraka's weight cracked the statue in half. Liu Kang huddled again as the center of the statue fell to the ground with him beneath of it.

This time when Liu looked up, the nose of Mercury was directly above Liu's head. The dead face of the god looked down upon him. There was no sigh of relief from the statue, only Liu as he wiped sweat from his headband.

Raiden materialized from a white outline of energy on top of the statue with Baraka. The thunder god threw punches and kicks at the beast. Baraka blocked, dodged or ducked each one. Then it was Baraka's turn as he fought his way up the side of the fallen statue against Raiden. There was drool that flowed from the beast's mouth and electrical energy that surged from Raiden's body.

It was bloody claws, and forearm spikes against lightning strikes and a powerful god. Neither was a victor, so Baraka tried something erratic. The beast dove forward with a lunge that tried to spear through Raiden's lungs. That is if a thunder god has lungs. The beast was dodged and he made a backhanded swipe at Raiden.

Unsuccessful, Baraka threw his body back at Raiden with his blades out. The super-beast rolled his body in a ball of what looked like bony spikes and forearm blades that tried to shred into Raiden. It was an ugly mass of mutated flesh, blood and force that went down the back of the fallen statue.

Raiden quickly teleported out of the way and reemerged in a figure of light where he stood before. Baraka's big body rammed the wall behind where the statue had once stood. That caused the cavern to tremble and particles of rock fell from the top of the chamber.

Baraka's body uncurled and he was facing the wall without a daze. Raiden ran down the back of the fallen statue, took Baraka's head and slammed it into the wall. Electrical volts jumped from Raiden's hands as the Tarkatan's spiked forehead was planted into the rock.

Then a second time, Raiden put the beast's face into the rock, only to have Raiden swatted away by the large, spike covered arm of Baraka.

The big Tarkatan hustled across the chamber to where Raiden had flown. With both blades out, Baraka charged forward. Raiden ducked beneath of the blades and they were stabbed into the rock wall behind him.

However, Baraka then bit off a piece of Raiden's triangular hat. With the Tarkatan stuck, Raiden electrocuted his ribs. There were no howls in pain, instead the beast tried to yank its blades from the wall, but failed to muster the strength from Raiden's voltage. There was drool that formed into steam that bellowed from Baraka's mouth.

Raiden tried to find the beast's heart to stop it in his chest. Even the amount of electricity going into Baraka's chest, it wasn't enough to stop the mutant dead. Baraka's faced winced and was covered with blood and cuts from the rock wall.

Then with a scream, Liu Kang came running with his left arm out and a chunk of statue in his hand. With a war cry, he jumped and smashed Baraka in the face with the chunk of statue. Fragments fell from the chunk of statue. When Liu Kang tried to bash the Taratan again, the Tarkatan threw its head forward and smashed through the hunk of statue. After that, Baraka let out a roar of angry frustration.

Baraka continued the roar as he raised his head and battered Raiden with it. Then again, and the thunder god stopped electrocuting the beast. After a third headbutt to Raiden, the Tarkatan planted his foot on Raiden's chest and used all of his might to rip the sharp forearm blades from the wall.

The blades took out a big chunk of rock from the wall. Other rocks began to tumble from the wall, and sediment fell from the ceiling. Baraka look up to get pelted in the face by a few small rocks, before he pushed off on Raiden's chest. The Tarkatan flipped backward and landed on its feet hunched over.

Then the terrifying Tarkatan scraped its forearm blades together that sent a spark ball over toward Raiden. The thunder god was hit and the entire cavern began to rumble. Instead of the entire place caving in on itself, a dump of rocks fell on the immortal thunder god.

When the dust cleared, there was Raiden, buried under rocks so far that the only thing that could be seen was his left foot. Poor Liu Kang looked to the pile of rocks and became enraged. His face shook and shuttered as he grit his teeth looking at what had happened.

Liu Kang turned his head slowly with his fists clenched. He turned his gaze over toward the big Baraka. Once his head fully turned to the Tarkatan, he could only see the beast that raced toward him. Drool flew from Baraka's mouth and blood covered his face.

Just as Liu had done to Baraka, he raced with his right arm back toward the Mortal Kombat champion. With a deadly swing, Baraka threw his right arm forward and gored through Liu Kang's stomach.

There was a blank look of shock in his brown eyes when the blade impaled him. There was blood that coated the wall behind him. Liu's mouth was stuck open with horror. The Tarkatan beast stared into his victim's face. Drool poured out of Baraka's mouth and his jaw disconnected as he looked to perhaps bite off the mortal warrior's face.

Then Baraka became distracted. He suddenly smelled something in the air. It was the scent of Billy, fragrant in the smoky air. With a pair of sniffs, Baraka looked over to Billy who stood there with his eyes wide.

The blade impaling Liu Kang was retracted back into the Tarkatan's arm and Liu fell to the ground and slumped forward with his head down. With a sinister snarl the Tarkatan looked at the boy and with his elbows curled and his fists near his face, Baraka unsheathed his forearm blades.

Billy turned around and ran with both hands cuffed behind his back. Baraka let out an unholy growl that spit a foam of mouth perspiration as the Tarkatan took off after the boy. The boy headed toward the subway train that had its doors open and awaited him.

The super-beast had its blades out and ran over the fallen statue. There was a much greater speed that Baraka had compared to Billy, but the boy was far in the distance through the green smoke in the chamber. Baraka leapt off of the staircase that leads to Shazam's brazier. He tucked into a ball on his landing, and came up to run for the subway train.

Billy was safe inside the train and it was the vertical metal pole that stopped his momentum. When he turned around, there was the red eyed, blood faced, sharp toothed, bony spiked Tarkatan racing toward the train. The door on the train car refused to close though.

The beast grew closer and closer, as Billy looked around the edge of the door for something that could prevent it from closing. There was, a big chunk of rock was wedged in the door. The boy kicked the rock out of the way with Baraka quickly approaching.

With a ding of the train car, the doors slid shut, and Baraka's body slammed into the doors with a force that jostled the train. The doors were dented inward and parted slightly from the impact. The part in the doors was enough for Baraka to reach his arm in to grab at Billy who was further into the car now.

The doors were damaged so badly that it was impossible for them to ever open again. The wheels were off the track, so Baraka slipped his large arm back through the door.

Billy was forced to look around the train car without much to see outside, just the mysterious green smoke. The Tarkatan beast disappeared as Billy cautiously walked through the isle.

Suddenly a window beside the boy smashed with Baraka's hand reaching through it. Billy cowered in fear under a seat and the forearm blade bolted out from Baraka's arm. The beast swiped at Billy and scraped the metal along the seats, poles and floor while Billy tucked himself into a ball.

Baraka's hand was stuck with a window around it, which he struggled with reaming all of the glass out of the sill. In that time Billy got up, while keeping his head down and looked for the nearest exit. Baraka was next to the undamaged side exit, and his blade was in the way of the rear exit, so Billy went to the front exit as quickly as he could.

Without much effort, Baraka crept into the train through the missing window. Billy looked behind him to see Baraka scrape his long blades against the metal poles. Sparks fell and the beast sadistically enjoyed himself looking at the fear in the boy's eyes.

Billy kept his pace to the front of the train car and with his arms cuffed behind his back; he pulled the door handle to open the exit. He then jumped from the train to the track and Baraka took off running after him. The boy was at an advantage here, because Baraka was too big to fit through the metal support bars that went from the floor to the ceiling. The terrifying Tarkatan had to cut each pole and smash it to continue forward.

The door was still open and Baraka could see Billy run further and further away. Baraka flew through the door and as he went through, he grazed the door, causing it to close. The door stuck around the Tarkatan's ankle and his big body slammed into the tracks below.

Baraka reached out for Billy, but the boy was too far. Not far enough though for Baraka's forearm blade. With a single swipe, Billy tumbled to the ground as blood poured from it all over the tracks.

Looking at his right leg, Billy sat looking at the super-beast's snarling sharp toothed grin. Billy was out of range for the tall Tarkatan, because Baraka's ankle was still stuck in the doorway. With a bit of a struggle, Baraka tore his foot free from the door and crawled along the tracks with a sinister snarl as Billy scooted backward.

Then the menacing beast rose to its hands and knees as he grew poised to lunge at Billy and take his life. Just before he stuck his blades into Billy's chest, a standing arcade machine materialized from thin air and fell from the height of the tunnel they were in. It fell directly on Baraka's head and smashed it beneath the weight.

Even without a head, Baraka's body twitched and trembled. His body grew slower and slower, before it became motionless. His grotesque and mutated body gave in to death when it stopped.

Liu Kang's voice heralded, "Fatality." Billy looked over to Liu in the distance. The mortal warrior held his stomach as crimson stained his flesh and ran from his belly to his boots.

A magical green energy then invaded Liu Kang's aura and he pulled his hand away the wound that should have killed him. The warrior looked down to his wound to reveal not a scratch. With a heavy breath he said, "Thank you."

Then he looked to Shazam, who uttered, "Anything to the man that saved my young Billy Baston." The wizard curled his beard and continued, "This lad is more than my chosen superhero, I think of him as my great cave explorer."

Billy fell back from exhaustion and merely laid on the track for a moment. Shazam strolled over to Billy and asked, "Oh young Billy Baston, a kiss from me will heal your supple muscles." The same green energy that healed Liu Kang came over Billy and the boy's leg was instantly healed.

The outline of Raiden formed behind Liu Kang. The thunder god boomed, "We could have used that magic to defeat that menacing beast."

Shazam pulled his head away from Billy's leg and commented, "I use my magic to improve society, not destroy it!" The wizard's beard tickled Billy's bare leg and then he wondered, "Why have you put my Billy in danger like this?"

Liu wondered, "Us? We did not make that monstrosity." Liu tried to compose himself and added, "Thanks for healing me and all, but if you did not make that monster, your Billy would not have been almost killed."

Raiden stepped forward and put his hand up to Liu's mouth to hush him. The thunder god humbly said, "Princess Diana of Themyscira has been taken to the Netherealm. I beseech you Shazam, to grant me the ability to keep my powers in that terrifying land so that I may save her get her back from Scorpion."

Shazam stood up and helped Billy to his feet. The old wizard gruffly said, "Hmph. You came all this way for me to disappoint you pointy hat."

Raiden boldly asked, "Why is that?"

"I cannot help you," said the miser, "Because you are different than everyone who has ever asked for my aide. I feel that there is no magic that I have that could benefit you."

The thunder god didn't take that as an answer. He began to open his garb underneath of his tunic. He uttered, "I have been helped once before by a sorcerer." After that was said, Raiden pulled out a jade medallion that was under his clothes, "He gave me this medallion to restore my power here in Earthrealm."

Shazam wondered, "And you still have your power now?" He then quipped, "I guess my sanctuary must be in Earthrealm." The old wizard looked down to Billy with a smile and added, "You were right Billy, and I guess this means that I owe you a cheeseburger."

Raiden asked again with a humble, "Please Shazam."

The wizard had a smile beneath of his grey whiskers as he looked to Liu Kang. "There is one arrangement we can make for your ward," said Shazam.

The thunder god looked to Liu Kang and the Mortal Kombat champion looked worried. Raiden uttered, "Deal."

Shazam shuffled his bare feet over to Liu Kang and circled around the warrior. The miser looked Liu Kang up and down the dirt covered body. He then said to Raiden, "I will infuse him with the super powers of six gods that would make him a marvel."

Liu pointed out, "But I already have the power to create fire with my hands and transform myself into a long necked Chinese dragon!"

The wizard snidely commented, "That is not good enough!"

"Please do not do anything to me," said Liu, before he batted away the old wizard's approaching hand. Liu barked, "Or touch me!"

"He will be able to save your precious Princess Diana from her captor," uttered the miser with a smirk and shrill laughter.

Raiden boldly told him, "The gods shall be of my choosing wizard."

"Yes, fine, sure," said Shazam, "Who shall you choose? Athena? Hera?"

"No," said Raiden only to hear Liu state, "I agree!"

Raiden uttered, "They will be Argus, Fujin and a slew of others including my own."

Billy looked puzzled and so did the old wizard as he asked, "Who?"

"Fujin," said Raiden, "The god of wind."

Shazam pulled his lips in and shook his head, "Never heard of him."

Liu Kang jumped between them and wondered, "What good will these powers do when I already have my own?"

Raiden uttered, "You will need my powers, especially if you run into Superman in the Netherealm."

The warrior let out a sigh and rolled his eyes. With his eyes still pointed above him he wondered, "How can I use powers against Superman when he is wearing a suit that makes him immune to magic?"

Without a word, Liu Kang was stunned as Shazam battered his hands into Liu's chest and infused his body with the powers of the gods. The warrior screamed as he was first bolted with lightning, and then had a cyclone of wind come from his body.

The shadows of Raiden, Shazam and Billy stretched out across the floor as Liu Kang's body surged with energy. The screams continued for each god's power that Liu gained.

Once everything was done and Liu now had the powers of a god, Shazam gave a shrill laugh that echoed in their ears. He cackled, "You will save this princess for your master, but who will she appreciate?"


	13. Chapter 13: Jax

CHAPTER 13: JAX

Deep in what was left of the Metropolis downtown area stood LexCorp's headquarters. A tall office building that conducted both research and business. This was Lex Luther's company, a company that had supplied the United States Government with new weaponry for the past half-century.

The building was damaged; there was rubble in the streets and one of the letters from the LexCorp sign had fallen to the sidewalk below. The entire city was still reeling from the merger and Superman's battle against Darkseid.

Lex was high up in his suite's balcony looking over the damage to the city. It was weeks later and fires still raged through much of Metropolis. The intelligent former super villain drank from a glass of alcohol as he leaned over Kitana's shoulder. After a swig of his drink he commented, "These fires should have easily been put out by the man that started them."

The CEO of LexCorp wore a simple charcoal grey suit with a red tie. Kitana was wearing a short, white kimono with a floral pattern and had a long blue ribbon in her hair. The beauty had given up the life of an assassin and the mask that she once wore to protect her identity. Even barefoot, she was almost as tall as Lex behind her with an arm wrapped around her.

Kitana was enjoying Lex's embrace as she curled her neck back to his shoulder. With him behind her, she was undoing his red tie as she uttered, "It was so nice of you to donate all of that money to the firemen."

With a monotone voice, Lex pointed out, "The firefighters of Metropolis have had to do so much more than the police force ever since Superman flew into this city." There was smoke bellowing from other buildings and the street below, but that was something even the news media had gotten use to.

Lex put down his drink and pulled off the jacket to his suit before he swept Kitana into his arms next to the railing of the balcony. He turned around and wobbled, before he commented, "That threshold seems further and further each time."

"Oh Lexie," said Kitana, "You have spoiled me so much that I think I am gaining weight." Kitana was naturally a thicker woman, bigger than most with her height, but still desirable to anyone that would ever see her. The princess's long raven colored hair was tied in a bun with the ribbon, but as Lex held her, she pulled the ribbon and let her long main fall out of place.

The criminal mastermind staggered toward the door with Kitana in his arms as he commented, "How could I possibly have spoiled a princess?"

"You spoil me," she said, "By taking me away from the Edenian resistance. I no longer spend my days fighting against the oppression of my father and his even army of Centaurs and four-armed Shokan warriors."

With a smirk that rarely came over his bald mug, Lex uttered, "We both know where you're gaining weight my dear and I will take you bra shopping later."

Lex continued to slowly maneuver his way across the balcony as he approached the sliding glass door. Kitana then commented, "In Edenia we have never worn such garments. Our gravity is less than here in Earthrealm or even in Outworld. That allows our plants to grow tall and our bodies to jump further and our bodies to flourish."

Then once Lex crossed the threshold of his private suite, he put Kitana down on the floor. She hugged and held him, then pulled a way for a moment and said with her eyes closed, "Quick, what color are my eyes." She had a great smirk on her face, because Kitana rarely smiled with the life she had growing up.

Lex peered down her kimono to the goods and he was caught off guard. He uttered, "Green?"

Kitana wondered, "Was that a question Lexie?"

"They're green," he said, and then she opened her eyes as she said with laughter, "And you are rich, so it does not matter." Her eyes were a dark blue with a bright and expressive nature. She started to tug at the top of her kimono, before she bit her lower lip and looked to the thief that stole her heart.

Lex pulled the ribbon that cinched the kimono's waist closed and she threw the kimono off her shoulders. The kimono hit the ground and Superman wondered, "I have never seen a woman wear that under her robe."

An angered Luther stepped in front of Kitana and barked, "Don't you knock?" With that said, he looked to the rubble that Superman stood in and then up to the hole that was in his ceiling.

"I did," Superman said, "But no one answered, so I thought that I'd make myself at home." With a glance at Kitana's bare shoulder, he asked, "I am interrupting, I should go."

Lex Luther exclaimed, "Yes! You should! And go out the way you came without making anymore holes in my building!"

Kitana reached out to stop him, "No, please stay, Lex and I can finish later, but whatever you have come to say, it must be important to visit your former nemesis."

"Until I find a new nemesis, Lex is still my nemesis," Superman commented, before he added, "You should find something more appropriate to wear."

The Edenian princess stepped out from behind Lex and gestured with her hand to her attire, "I fight and train in this attire." Superman's eyebrow rose as he drew back his chin. As for Lex, he continued to look at Kitana's beautiful figure.

Her torso was surrounded in a single latex suit that gripped her body. Down the center from her neck to her waist was a large slit that was unintentionally shaped like a diamond because of Kitana's voluptuous figure. The center was cinched together with laces that tied in a bow at the top. Each lace went through a metal ring. The attire was mostly blue, but had black trim that ran along the neckline and below her waist. Her figure overflowed through the broad point of the diamond even though she was restrained by the laces.

Kitana then elaborated, "It is my Lexie's pleasure that I wear this when we are intimate."

"Tell us Superman," said Lex, "How can we get you out of here as quickly as possible?"

Superman commented, "I need to use your portal Lex."

"The man of steel," began Lex, "Needing a favor from me?" He hugged his arm around Kitana's waist as he added "Now I know we're best buddies and all, but why would I help you?"

Superman quickly uttered, "Because I am going to save Princess Diana from the Netherealm and you'll want to help me do that to impress your lily beside you."

With a gruff tone of voice, Luther agreed, "You're right Superman, but let's make this quick, because unlike you, I'm not the man of steel. If you catch what I mean."

"I don't," Superman proclaimed, "But I'm sure it's sinister in motive."

The lights in the bachelor pad turned into a red hue as the speakers began blasting, "Intruder alert!"

With a shout Lex uttered, "A little late!" Lex then quipped with a shout over the warning, "It is only sinister where it will end up."

The vocal warning kept informing them what the CEO of LexCorp felt he already knew. Then one of the monitors in his suite caught his attention, gun fire. Lex quickly approached a series of flat panel monitors that sat on a wall. There were two dozen small screens on six monitors.

Each monitor showed a different section of a sensitive area. One of the screens had dead bodies strewn about. In another screen was what looked to be a robot killing guards and lab technicians with a chain gun. The gun had six barrels on it in a circle. That circle rotated and a bullet would be launched from the next barrel in line. Much like how a six shooter's chamber would rotate and feed the gun a new bullet, only this was rotating the barrel instead.

Lex grabbed the microphone in front of him and filled a switch to scream in it, "Breach in sector four. All guards stop the intruder!"

The guards already knew and a series of uniformed guards were having a firefight with the psychotic robot. Each guard was pinned down behind cover; either they hid behind a metal case, an overturned lab table or a riot shield. The cover did very little, because the bullets from the chain gun broke through the cover like it wasn't even there.

LexCorp guards were shredded as the robot continued to walk the corridors. There were bodies and blood strewn about everywhere. Then finally, the three looking at the monitors got a better view of the machine as it walked past one of the security cameras.

The robot was made of black steel and had the face of a black man. The arms of the robot had circular joints and its chest had a glowing plume of blue smoke whenever it exhaled a breath. The left eye of the machine had a yellow glow to it and was obviously cybernetic. Half of it's the cranium was made of metal. Wires and tubes ran from the robot's head to its back. Then tubes came from its arms to its back and from its back into its legs.

Kitana was shocked as she was horrified to realized, "I know him." She was taken back from the horror, "I think that is the warrior Jax. I have fought side by side with him." Jax was now a mechanical nightmare, a man with a machine's body.

Lex looked to Kitana and said, "It pains me to think that you fight with men other than me." He then watched more of Jax's brutality on the monitors and muttered, "Damn, why can't I hire men like that?" With a quick pivot, Lex Luthor turned to Superman and touched his shoulder. "Listen, about that favor," he said, "I think I need a favor of my own."

Superman stared down at Lex's hand on his shoulder and Lex cautiously pulled his hand away. The man of steel wondered, "You need me to intervene don't you."

Lex wondered, "That's what you do isn't it? Interfere in mortal lives."

Superman told the criminal mastermind, "Normally I would leave you to deal with this on your own Lex, but the fact is I do need your portal."

With glee in his gruff voice, "So that means you'll help!"

"No Lex, I will not help," said Superman, "But I will make sure that no one else dies from that menacing machine."

Kitana touched Superman's shoulder blade and commented, "You are a true warrior and Princess Diana will be proud of you as I am of Lexie."

Superman didn't stare her down for putting her hand on his shoulder. Instead it felt warm and calming to him. The man of steel took off from the suite with a powerful stride out the double doors as he muttered, "Super powers, don't fail me now."

Meanwhile, there was a woman's voice in Jax's ear piece. She pleaded for him, "You've got to stop this madness Jax!" There was no response from Jax, at least where he stood. Elsewhere sat his partner, a woman under a green beret with camouflaged pants on and fingerless gloves. She had a microphone in her hand and yelled, "I order you to stop this."

She stood in front of a giant view screen of a monitor in a dark cove deep inside of a secret lair. There was equipment all around her, but the only thing that showed was the glow of her strong face in a blue hue from the giant monitor.

Ghostly blue text appeared at the bottom of the view screen she watched. She read it, "You know I outrank you." On her small monitor she could see everything that Jax could via his cybernetic yellow eye.

She yelled again, "Return to base!"

Once the text erased itself on her monitor, more ghostly blue text scrolled across the bottom of the screen, "Not until my mission is complete."

"You can still complete the mission," she shouted, "But use stealth!"

Jax's gun rattled as more of LexCorp's guards in grey uniforms hit the floor dead. She yelled into the microphone, "Damn it Jax! Stop killing people!"

The previous text was erased and new text appeared, "The portal must be destroyed at any cost to defend mankind against potential invasion."

She yelled again, "The cost is your humanity Jax!"

Kal-El quickly found the robot that stalked the halls of LexCorp. Superman threw open a set of double doors at the end of a quiet hallway. Quiet because everyone but the machine was dead and leaking blood. Jax turned his torso around with the noise of the doors. The machine looked at Superman and looked its glowing yellow eyes down the hallway as it readied the chain gun.

It was a western duel in a modern battleground. A duel between a powerful weapon of a man against a robot with a powerful weapon. The barrels of the chain gun began to spin as the weapon started up. Then the machine quickly threw its right arm forward and unleashed a flurry of bullets to the man of steel. Each bullet left the gun and deflected off Superman's body.

The man of steel calmly walked forward, unafraid of the hundreds of bullets he was shot with. He was Super Man of course, but lately his powers had waned and he had been left as a mortal. Looking to the side, he saw all of the other mortal bodies strewn about the place, slumped over with machine guns in their hands and bullets in their bodies.

Jax never stopped firing the heavy artillery, so when Superman came to the robot, he ripped the gun out of his hand. The machine was stunned in disbelief, and then Superman's fist collided with Jax's metal head.

Then Superman quickly blew the air to frost and froze Jax with ice crystals. Only the front of the robot was frozen and its eye remained glowing yellow from within a frosty glaze.

After a moment of freezing the cybernetic Jax, Superman stopped the gust of frigged breath. Superman uttered, "Well that was easy." He dusted off his hands as he glared at the ice sculpture.

There was the sound of cracking ice. First Jax's left arm broke free, then his right, and finally the rest of the ice shattered to the floor as the robot marched forward. Superman squint his eyes to unleash a pair of lasers from his eyes. Jax however lifted the man of steel into the air and punched him in the face.

Superman flew backward from the impact of the robot's fist. The man of steel then hovered in mid air without ever touching the ground. Then Superman came forward and landed on the ground to do the same thing to Jax.

With a brief laugh, Superman punched Jax in the human side of his head. The impact left him with bruising and a swollen eye. After a few punches, Jax slid backward from the brutal attack and skid to a stop on the metal floor.

The machine gripped the floor with its robotic legs and Superman flew forward. Then Jax charged forward and they met in the center with a punch. Both of their fists collided and sent a ripple through the hallway. There was no give in Superman's fleshy hand or Jax's metallic arm.

Both beings looked at their hands briefly in amazement. Then Jax kicked away Superman and sent an air ripple after the man of steel. The ripple of air was one of Jax's specialties in life. He could throw a punch so ferocious that it caused the air to ripple in a sort of shockwave effect.

Superman was hit by the ripple and affected. The ripple was air, but not magic. He was affected, but only enough that if he had expected it, he would not be bothered at all. The man of steel was battered against a wall but quick to recover.

However, once Superman rose tall from the attack, he was met by Jax's robotic body as he charged into the man of steel. Jax put Superman through wall after wall as he carried him through LexCorp. Four walls had holes in them now. It was like a new corridor was made that leads straight to a secret room where Lex was getting his suit ready.

Just before Jax could put Superman through the next wall, the man of steel shifted and threw the machine to the side. Superman followed that up with his super breath that blew and pinned the robot against the wall.

Meanwhile, Lex Luthor looked down the new corridor and with a scowl on his face he screamed, "Holes! If I wanted this many holes in my building I would have built it in Switzerland and made it out of cheese!" The mastermind was furious and hopping mad.

He fixed his tie and stormed over to his mechanical suit that stood in the center of the room. His suit was of a purplish green tint and made of metal like armor. It covered his entire body, but his head and with this suit, Lex became almost as indestructible as Superman. Kitana helped Lex put on his mechanical boots and the rest of his suit of armor.

As Lex put his suit on, Superman floated over to Jax who was still pinned against the wall with Superman's breath. The man of steel then belted Jax a few times in the human stomach. His hardened abs made of muscle took a beating if not a breaking and the machine fell to the floor weakened.

Superman bellowed, "Every man has his weakness, their kryptonite so to speak." Jax reached to his side and drew a pistol, but Superman's only response was laughter. He then quipped, "After shooting me with that big gun of yours, what do you think that pea shooter is going to do?"

There were heaves from Jax's stomach as he slowly stood to his feet. He never pointed the gun at the man of steel; instead he raced away from him, toward Kitana. The menacing machine put the gun to her head.

Lex dropped the piece of armor he was about to put on, and told Jax, "Put down the gun, we both know I only love Kitana for her body, but I want the head intact!" He then stepped between Superman and tried to pause him from advancing when Jax held Kitana hostage. Luthor added, "What do you want? I'll get you money, a free oil change, you name it, and I'll give it to you!"

Meanwhile, as his blonde partner looked at the big view screen, she read out loud what Jax was thinking, "Give me my life back." She slumped backward in her chair as she saw what Jax saw.

Back inside of LexCorp, Jax kept his pistol at Kitana's temple as she looked worried. The machine began to drag her out of the armory and further through LexCorp. There were guards that surrounded the two of them with their machine guns pointed to the machine. Lex however yelled in a gruff voice for them to, "Put your guns down!"

Wherever his partner was, she could see a floor plan of LexCorp on the view screen. She saw Jax's position and everyone in proximity to him. She could see where he was headed. There was a large room at the center of LexCorp that was three floors tall and the walls were much thicker than any other part of the building.

Jax went into the large room to see a giant metal disc that stood in the center of the room with a ramp that led up to it. Superman, Lex and dozens of guards followed the machine and his kicking hostage into the portal room. It was an awe inspiring sight. There were controls in front of the portal, observation areas, and cowering lab technicians.

One of the guards shouted, "Open fire!" That was followed by Lex's yell, "No!"

Dozens of guards pulled their triggers and the bullets merely bounced off of the robot's body. Well those bullets that didn't strike the human torso of Jax. The robot then flung Kitana away from him and he began to kill the guards one by one. Luther was there to catch her when she flew his way.

Superman tried to block as many bullets as he could with his super speed. However, some bullets slipped by. A single bullet went in the head of each guard, before they were all on the floor. After Jax slipped out the cartridge, he quickly slapped in another and turned the gun on the lab technicians to make sure they could not use the portal ever again.

Then Jax turned his pistol to the control panel in front of the portal. He pulled the trigger, but he was out of bullets and before he could load another cartridge, Superman crashed his fist into the metal chest of the mechanical mad man.

The robot was unaffected, and his metal hands opened wide to reveal more joints to make his fingers wider. He then grabbed Superman and snatched him up off the ground and attempted to crush the man of steel in his grasp. Superman felt like he was in a trash compactor as he was in a struggle to free his arms against the arms made of superior metal.

Superman's head was thrown back in pain as Jax started to win the struggle and continued to compress the man of steel. With his teeth grit, Superman's eyes were gripped together as he faced Jax again. Then Superman opened his eyes and sent out a pair of lasers into Jax's neck.

The man of steel hovered high in the air in front of Jax as he continued to put the heat on the metal in an attempt to melt through his neck. Jax reached forward though and snatched the ankle of Superman's red boot.

With all of his metal might, Jax yanked Superman down to the floor and gave him a ridiculously powerful uppercut that sent the man of steel up three floors and through the ceiling.

Jax raced to the controls and raised his arms to destroy them with a brutal smash. Superman dropped down from the ceiling and held Jax to keep him from destroying the controls.

Then a single shot was fired and ricochet off of Jax's chest. The robot then turned his head over to Lex and Lex himself had a chuckle at how pathetic it was. Lex was in the full suit of high tech armor. He then dropped the pistol and raised his right arm to point it at Jax.

The man of steel struggled to keep his grip around Jax, as Luther had his arm pointed at the robot. What would be considered the cuff of the armor had a hole in it and Kitana realized what was housed within the cuff.

She screamed "Stop!" Luther questioned her in his own mind, but then he spoke out, "Relax, Superman always survives." He then quipped, "He's like a cockroach that way."

It was a hole that launched a rocket out of it toward the metal man and the man of steel. The rocket landed dead on Jax's human stomach and exploded with a furious flame that engulfed them both.

Once the smoke cleared, there was Superman as he stood tall. At his feet was Jax, who was literally blown apart. His upper half was intact for the most part, except for his left arm was gone. Its cybernetic yellow eye began to grow dim as Jax's human eye was swollen shut. His legs were no longer existent and his stomach was in bloody red chunks.

The motor skills of Jax were off, and he twitched to grab for something unknown to everyone else.

His partner continued to look at the monitor and she knew what had happened. She asked him into the microphone, "Jax, talk to me. Tell me you're alright." The screen then showed his metal pieces scattered across the floor. She uttered, "Oh Jax. Come on, talk to me."

The mechanical body refused to let him die, even if the human side of him was long since dead. At the bottom of the screen scrolled her name, "Sonya."

She held the microphone and looked up to the screen. She was intently paying attention to every detail as she asked, "What is it Jax?" On the screen, she could tell that he was still moving. However, he was close to the floor. His body went over the metal pieces to the ramp that led up to the portal.

The text was replaced with, "I must complete the mission."

"No Jax," she pleaded, "You gotta get back here."

Once the text dissipated it read, "Let me go, I have served my time in the special-forces and here on Earth."

With his metal hands gripping the grate of the ramp, Jax crawled up toward the portal. His partner could see him getting closer and closer to the large metal ring. Superman's boot then came down in front of the portal ring. It was the challenge the one armed machine had to overcome.

Then the text read, "5." That was followed with, "4." His partner told him, "Goodbye Jax." "3" "2" "1." The screen went to static and his partner threw her body back with a deep sigh from her mouth. She flipped a switch and the screen went dark so she could think.

As for LexCorp, when Jax self-destructed, it was contained within the portal room, due to how thick the walls, floor and ceiling were. There was nothing but smoke inside. Kitana and Lex were on the outside of the room when the bomb went off, because of an audio warning that came from Jax's arm.

With the push of a button, Lex opened up the blast doors that contained the explosion. A wall of grey smoke and dust began to air out. The smoke was so thick that nothing could be seen, but after a moment, Superman strode out from the room to Lex's surprise and Kitana's enjoyment.

There was smoke that clung to Superman's suit as Lex uttered gruffly, "Thanks for the visit. You really must come over more often."

Kitana wondered, "Were you able to see if the portal still intact?"

Superman folded his arms and told them, "No, it broke and fell apart to the floor." With a sigh, he added, "Well Lex, I kept up with my part of the bargain."

Lex was angry and his thick eyebrows ruffled as he looked to the man of steel, "No you didn't! My guards still died and you didn't defeat that cyborg, he blew himself up!"

"No Lex," said Superman, "I beat him so bad that he would have rather have done away with himself than endure any more of the pain that I brought him."

"You really think that don't you," uttered Lex.

"Yes Luther, I do," retorted Superman, before he added, "No what I am I going to do to get to that Netherealm?"

Kitana perked up with her index finger in the air, "I know!"

Lex gruffly said, "Oh this will be good."

She then continued her thought, "Lexie stole the technology from the special-forces. So you should find the secret military installation where the special-forces have their portal and ask if you can use it!"

Superman had a big smirk across his face as he pat the shoulder of the mastermind and said, "You know Luther, you always said that you were intelligence personified, but I think you really found that in Kitana here."

With a shy blush, she commented, "Well I do have ten thousand years of wisdom!"

The man of steel strolled by the two of them and Lex followed him to yell, "I hope that you do find the Netherealm, but I hope you never come back!"

"Oh wait," said Kitana with a shout, "There is something that I forgot to tell you." Superman only turned his head to let his ear listen to her as a response. She then informed him, "That man that just died in there works for the special-forces and his partner is the one that runs the portal. They were like brother and sister. If you want to get on her good side, you should speak with the Green Lantern."

Superman asked over his shoulder, "Why him?"

"They got engaged," she said, "He gave her a ring!"

Superman walked down the hall away from them as firefighters arrived. He then called over his shoulder, "I will look him up, and maybe he can tell me where the portal is."

Lex yelled out, "Please use a door!"

Kitana grabbed hold of the neck hole of Lex's armor and pulled him closer as she said, "Poor Lexie, you need a massage from all this stress!"


	14. Chapter 14: Green Lantern

CHAPTER 14: GREEN LANTERN

High above earth orbits an alien space station full of little green men that monitor the planet. The space station consists of large bubble domes that are pressure sealed. On any one of the main platforms, a serine view of the clouded blue planet known as Earth could be seen. It was a majestic place in the stars and the technological sanctuary of Green Lantern.

Hal Jordan became the Green Lantern when he was a test pilot that crash landed in the desert and was given a special ring by a dying alien that he met. With this ring, Green Lantern had the power to imagine things and make them a reality. Each and every day, the alien ring with a green lantern logo needed to be charged from its power being whittled away.

There was a series of stomach high green aliens with giant throbbing heads that monitored and maintained everything on the space station. Two of these aliens seated at a control panel and spotted something on the radar that approached them. "Is it a comet," one of them wondered to the other.

The other green skinned alien turned around and informed Green Lantern, "There is a comet that approaches."

Green Lantern walked forward. He was a dashing man that looked to be in his early thirties. The superhero was decorated in a black skin tight suit with green accenting with green shoulders and a green mask that looked as if it was spray painted over his eyes. His hair was brown and had a hunky wave that rippled it to the side. If he were in medieval times, this would be Prince Charming.

Another green alien commented, "It's a space bird."

The only human aboard the station looked closer, "It's a space ship."

"No," chimed in another alien, "It's Superman." With that said the man of steel was put on a long range monitor to reveal flames around the superhero. He had streamed up from Earth's atmosphere.

Green Lantern glared at the monitor, "Let him in. The world must be in peril."

Superman entered the space station through an air lock that lead to the cosmos. Normally, the air lock was for a docking space ship, but because Superman didn't need air, he could freely come and go as he pleased.

When the hatch opened, Superman walked into a room full of aliens that were only stomach high compared to the dashing Green Lantern. Superman had with him balloons that said "Congratulations."

Green Lantern wondered, "How did you get those balloons," but before he could answer, Superman jumped in, "Every grocery store sells them." The balloons were floating with what was probably helium in them. There were a dozen of them, with a giant one the color of metallic silver that complimented them.

"Uh. No," said the masked man, "How did you get those balloons through space?"

Superman quipped, "That's not a concern, what is a concern is that I've come to congratulate you!"

Lantern wondered, "For my help in defeating Dark Kahn?" After he said that, he met the man of steel with a firm handshake and uttered, "So Earth isn't in danger?"

"Relax," said Superman with a calm tone, "Earth is fine, but here, these balloons are for you."

As Lantern took the balloons from Superman, he wondered, "For my help in defeating Dark Kahn?"

"No," uttered Superman, "I heard the news from Lex and Kitana that you're engaged to Sonya. That must mean you finally gave up on Carol Ferris." The man of steel strolled through the crowd of short aliens as he asked, "Do I get to be your best man?"

With a good natured smile, Green Lantern told him, "That's not gonna happen."

Superman twirled around and his cape whirled with him. He then gestured with his hand above one of the green aliens as he inquired, "Do one of these little green men get to be your best men?"

Green Lantern then popped one of the balloons and grimaced as he said, "We're not getting married."

With his neck in a quizzical position Superman uttered, "Aw pal, what happened between you two?"

As Lantern popped another balloon between his white gloves, he explained, "Sure she said yes, but then she started sleeping over at Batman's night after night instead of here at the station." After the pop of another balloon, he continued, "She told me that she couldn't give up her life on Earth, protecting the world from alien invaders. I told her that there is no better place to protect Earth from aliens than aboard my space station."

One of the aliens spoke up in a language that Superman didn't understand. Green Lantern was fluent, so he set the short green man at ease, "Our space station." The alien chimed in again, perhaps to thank him for the correction.

Lantern continued with his story, "She said they've been working late nights building a robotic army to defend Earth." After the pop of yet another balloon in his grasp, Lantern's upper lip twinge as he pondered, "I guess it just wasn't meant to be right?"

A green man next to Lantern commented, "How can you rock her world when you're in space?" The other aliens around him gave a hearty chuckle.

Green Lantern pointed out, "And these guys aren't helping."

With the tug on his arm, one of the aliens spoke in its strange language to Green Lantern. It was a statement that provoked Lantern to retort, "Cat Woman isn't my type. She's a criminal."

After that was said, Lantern looked to Superman and uttered, "I can't stay around here."

The man of steel wondered, "So you'll be coming back to Earth then?"

"No," said Lantern, "I've decided to join the space foreign legion. They need all the men they can get to investigate a distress call on an alien planet about a strange temple that rose out of the ground."

Superman was surprised, "So that's it? You're just leaving? You're not even going to compete for her love?"

Lantern hung his head and shook it, "I shouldn't have to compete for it. Besides that, how can I compete with a cryptic bad boy that just so happens to have his daddy's billions? He has a PhD in science and masters at chemistry."

"I think you know the answer to that," uttered Superman, "You have your imagination."

"No," said Green Lantern with the shake of his head before he let out a deep breath, "I had creativity. She kept the ring and all of the power is in the ring." With that said, one of the aliens kicked him straight in the butt. Lantern then commented, "They've been doing that a lot lately. That makes two women that I have resigned my powers to and both left me high and dry."

Lantern tried to cheer himself up, "I appreciate you coming up here Superman, and maybe a drink will cheer me up. Care to join me?"

Superman however, shot down his idea, "I'd love to, but I'm pressed for time, I need to get to the Netherealm and save Princess Diana."

"Wait," said Lantern and after a pause, he brought up, "The special-forces have a portal and Sonya is a member of the special-forces." He was mildly peeved as he asked the man of steel, "Did you come up here just so you can find Sonya?"

There was no reply from Superman, so Green Lantern slumped down in a chair. He then uttered, "You know it hurts that unless the world is in peril, no one bothers to come up here to see me."

"Well you do live a bit out of the way," commented Superman.

With Lantern's elbow curled beneath of his chin he barked, "Oh I live out of the way for someone that can fly a dozen rings around the sun and be back in a minute."

The man of steel raised his hands to calm down his pal. He then told him, "Hold on there, it's not that fast."

Green Lantern gave a gesture to send Superman away as he said, "Just go. I want to be alone with my real friends and have a drink."

One of the aliens spoke a comment that made the greenies chuckle. Superman had to ask, "What did he say?"

Lantern translated, "He said that her portals are getting invaded every night."

The man of steel wondered, "These are your friends?"

"Yes," yelled Green Lantern, "Of course they are."

Superman then smugly wondered, "Then what are their names?"

It looked as if Lantern got a sudden headache as he put his hand to his temple. He then retorted, "They're just greenies, they don't have a name." One of the aliens told a joke that made the other greenies laugh.

Superman had to wonder, "And he said?"

Lantern informed the man of steel, "That Sonya will be screaming his name tonight." With a gesture that pointed him to the hatch he entered, Lantern suggested, "I hope you'll excuse me, but I need to go pack."

"I hate leaving you like this," said the man of steel with sorrow in his heart. He then added, "You should come with me for the adventure."

The brooding Green Lantern uttered, "Like I really want to go with you to see my ex-girlfriend at her new jerk's pad in Gotham City, then go save Diana and watch you make out with her and give you rescue sex."

"It's your call," said Superman, only to hear Green Lantern retort, "I'll pass, thanks."

With the conversation ended, Superman headed toward the hatch and left the space station.


	15. Chapter 15: Gotham

CHAPTER 15: GOTHAM

Darkness shrouded a tall city painted in black. There were twinkles of lights from the windows of high rises, but above the skyline was a muggy cloud cover. A blanket of fresh snow covered the tall, dark city. This was not winter though, nor was this Metropolis. It was Gotham City, home of billionaire industrialist Bruce Wayne. Like the man himself, his company had its fingers in most of Gotham.

A broken store window revealed only a single television inside of a looted store. The television was still on and off kilter. The static on the television was suddenly replaced with a floating card that was held up to fill the screen.

The card had the phrase, "Mayoral Debate," painted on it with black paint and a red smiley face at the bottom without a circle to make the outline of the face. The lips of the smile were off kilter and bled down the card. The eyes of the face were blank and devoid of any personality or joy.

A high pitched feminine voice announced, "We now join our debate already in progress."

There were two podiums that stood with figures standing behind them as silhouettes. On the lower left side of the screen text appeared in small white letters that read, "Filmed earlier this month."

The lights above the first podium illuminated to reveal a man in a purple suit with what looked like a painted white face, a hideous red lipped smile and a receding hairline of green hair. He gripped the podium and leaned forward menacingly toward the camera. He then uttered, "I hope you enjoyed those Joker brand commercials." With a hiss in his raspy voice, he added, "Best two dollars I ever spent." An insidious laugh belted from his chest along with the girlish giggle of the narrator.

The narrator uttered, "Good one Mister Jay."

Behind the podium, he looked as modest as a charismatic clown ever could. He said, "Oh please Harley, call me the future mayor."

The camera cut to a court jester seated in a crowd full of cardboard cutout superheroes and police officers. The feminine jester wore a black and red cap with three long tassels that hung down like slick wet hair. At the end of each tassel was a jingle bell. She wore a black and red pantsuit that looked as if it was made from two suits sewn together and spray painted. Around her neck was a tie that plunged down between her breasts. Her face was the strangest thing of all. It was a porcelain mask without a lower jaw and the eyes had a black band that went from the right to left. Her jaw was red and looked to be infected from some skin disease. Beneath the mask her eyes were black and shined to give a hint that there was life still in the living doll.

"Sure thing Joker," uttered Harley.

Joker gave her a scowl and said, "Just read from the card."

The clown with the cards, looked down and said, "Oh. Um. The next card says." She tried to align the cards in their chaotic order, before she gave up and threw all of the cards in the air. She then stated, "The next card says, Joker, what would you do if you're elected mayor."

The Joker began to say, "As I was telling my opponent during the commercial break, the civil servants in this city are a joke!" He lowered his head and bopped it as he uttered, "They all wear such lifeless, dull suits. They're wearing the suits of a salesman that you don't want what they're selling." As he leered over the podium to take a look at his opponent in the shadows, he continued, "But you know the guy in the purple suit is gonna have something interesting to say. The guy in the purple suit isn't there to sell you anything. He's there to entertain you. To make you smile, to keep the people of this cold dark city happy!"

With the flip of a switch from Harley, the cardboard cutout crowd began to give a rowdy round of applause. The Joker continued to bark out, "The current politicians can't even maintain order! They've let vigilante justice run amok! How many vigilantes does one city need?"

"If I am elected mayor," shouted the Joker, "My administration will capture the Batman and any other masked freak out there and stone them in the street!"

Amongst louder cheers, Harley said in her high pitched voice, "Hey! What about me?"

The Joker grits his ugly yellow teeth and said, "I said masked freaks, not living works of art." With an angry scowl on his face he looked to his opponent still in the shadows, "I'm dying to hear your rebuttal Mister mayor!"

The lights over the second podium illuminated a fried, fleshy skeleton in a dull grey suit held up by a metal rod with its hands tied to the podium. The corpse was still smoking with its hair burnt. The Joker howled with laughter and said, "Your honor has honored me! My whiz of words has made the mayor speechless."

As the camera gave Joker a close up, he glared forward to tell the citizens of Gotham, "This is a democracy, and I do hope to see you all at the polls on this Election Day." He menaced on the screen of every television, "Be sure to check out your nearest polling place and avoid them, unless you want to get shot by one of our friendly employees."

The television screen went to static for a moment before Superman stopped watching. The man of steel asked himself, "How could Batman let this happen?" The crunch of new fallen snow could be heard beneath Superman's feet as he also pondered, "And why is it snowing? Could it be Mister Freeze?"

After Superman stepped away from the television, it showed another news clip with a headline, "Commissioner Gordon's Funeral." There was a rainy grey funeral with a dark casket, people dressed in black and plenty of umbrellas. Then there was a clip of the commissioner being sprayed by the carnation on Joker's purple suit. The white haired commissioner held his face and fell to the ground.

The man of steel roamed the darkened streets of Gotham city. There were overturned police cars, flaming husks of burnt vehicles, police barricades, and dead bodies in the street. Buildings were on fire, there were sirens and gun fire in the distance. Superman had heavy emotion, and he looked to the skyline of the darkened city.

Next to Superman was a large movie poster pasted on a concrete wall with a silhouette of the Joker's face. Beneath of the clown's silhouette were big flashy words that were spray painted over. The array of words ended with "Tournament"

An explosion erupted from the wall and blew up the side of the building that engulfed Superman in smoke, ash and flames. The man of steel turned around and looked to the front doors of the building that read, "Gotham City savings and Loan." From inside the building bellowed a bank alarm.

In the distance, car lights turned on and tires began to squeal as a getaway vehicle raced through the street. Superman turned around distracted by the noise of the car as its engine revved and bolted through the streets.

Once the car arrived at the bank it skidded to a stop and slid sideways nearly hitting the man of steel. The driver stepped out with a loaded pistol and began shooting Superman.

With a yawn, Superman said, "It's getting late. How about you get back in your car and go home?" Snow flurries continued to fall to the ground.

The driver said in a thick Gotham accent, "No way pig!" The gun continued to shoot and ricochet off the Man of steel's face.

Superman asked, "Does this look like a police uniform?"

With his thick accent, the driver yelled, "You could be undercover!"

From the missing wall poured out five masked men. Two of them were carrying an injured and bloody third one. Superman asked, "Does anyone know where Batman is?"

The other robbers began to fire their guns at the wall of muscle known as Superman, as one of them yelled, "Dead for all we care! This city is our playground now!"

Two of the men carried sacks of money from the gap in the bank wall. As they raced toward the car, Superman uttered, "Come on guys, put the money back in the vault, so I don't have to do it."

They continued to open fire on Superman, completely ignorant to the fact that bullets don't harm in. One of them shouted, "I think I made a scratch!"

Superman calmly walked over to the four door sedan and lifted up the right side of the car. He then postured himself beneath the car and lifted it completely over his head with the masked robbers completely in shock.

With all of his might, the man of steel heaved the car high into the air until it disappeared. One of the criminals scratched his head with his pistol and uttered, "He must be some kind of magician!"

"No he's a witch," shouted one of the other criminals, "Shoot him!"

The four men opened fire on Superman again, before they all paused to reload. Superman uttered, "Look guys, I know I'm invading Batman's turf, but I will stop your shenanigans." Then one of them uttered, "Aw heck! Let's just scatter!"

They left their dying friend and the four healthy crooks began to run away. One ran into an alley, but Superman used his super speed to block him. Another ran down the street, but again, Superman stopped him. No matter where the crooks ran, Superman stopped them with his meaty fists.

After they were all down on the ground, Superman dumped them in a pile and wiped the dust from his big hands. The man of steel stopped the bank alarm so he could enjoy the silence. Superman then began to walk the bags of money back into the gap in the wall.

With a money sack in each hand, a shadowy figure appeared from a chaotic Gotham City street. The crunching of footsteps in the snow could by heard by anyone paying attention. The groans of beaten men in a pile could also be heard by anyone that cared.

Superman's super hearing knew there were approaching footsteps, so he paused for a moment holding the sacks of money to look down the street. There was a figure that continued to approach. However, Superman couldn't see who it was. An icy voice called out, "What are you doing?"

"I'm putting the money back," said Superman only to see the figure step into the light. The approaching man was in a black ninja garb with a blue tunic and blue boots with a blue mask. His bare arms looked to be made of ice and had a frosty mist coming from them. Each breath he took made a fog from the slits in his mask and Superman could tell the ninja's right eye was dead under his black hood. Behind the ninja was a blue cape that draped down and tickled the snow as he continued to walk.

The ninja said with a cold voice, "It looks to me like you are stealing them."

Superman threw each bag back into the bank instead of carrying them. He then told the stranger, "Perhaps if you had both eyes, you could see clearly."

With a step toward the ninja, the man of steel stated, "I've seen you before stranger. What was your name?"

The icy ninja uttered, "That is of little concern to you criminal."

Superman asked, "Do you know where Batman is?"

The approaching stranger told him, "I've taken his place watching this city."

With a look to the burnt out husks of vehicle, the man of steel uttered, "Batman had a lighter touch than you do."

The icy ninja finally was a few meters from Superman and stopped in his tracks. The emotionless shadow of a man spoke, "My touch is as light as frost and I'm going to bring you to justice for your crime."

Superman asked, "Justice? I am always on the side of justice."

The ninja looked over the missing wall from Gotham Savings and Loan as he asked, "So you still claim that you're a superhero?"

Superman boldly proclaimed, "I am a superhero that has never hid behind a mask."

"There is only room for one superhero," said the ninja with a plume of mist from his mask.

Intrigued, the man of steel asked, "Does that mean you killed Batman?"

"He's gone," said the ninja without any emotion, "That's all I can tell you."

"I need to find him," uttered Superman, only to hear the ninja tell him, "No, you need to stay here to face justice."

The man of steel informed him, "You can't stop me."

"Spoken like a true villain," said the frosty ninja.


	16. Chapter 16: SubZero

CHAPTER 16: SUB-ZERO

Their capes were a comparison between the two of them. Superman's red cape was a bold warning to everyone. The ninja's blue cape and dark garb were subtle in order to sneak up on crime. Both capes twinge from a light breeze through the city street.

A ringing overtook the street, one brief ring after another. The icy cold ninja looked to Superman's hip. Superman himself looked to his own hip and with one finger up gesturing for a moment, he reached into his tights.

The man of steel pulled out his ringing cell phone and said, "Its work. I need to answer this." When he flipped the phone open, his voice and demeanor changed to an overly polite one. Even the expression on his face changed as he answered, "Yeah boss?"

There was a grumbling over the phone followed by, "Why aren't you at work Clark? This Lois Lane death by Superman is a big deal! Why aren't you covering it?"

A very polite Superman uttered, "Why can't Jimmy handle it? Oh that's right."

The gruff voice on the other end of the phone told him, "Jimmy never returned from his lunch break and that was days ago! When are you coming back to work? Are you trying to find yourself again?"

Superman kept his finger up to the icy ninja as he still needed a moment. He then politely told his boss at the Daily Planet, "Can I call you back chief? I am about to cover a ninja in Gotham story."

His boss barked, "Gotham?"

The man of steel looked the frigid ninja from head to toe again and said, "How about I call you back in two minutes?"

The ninja drew his arms back and swirled them, before he quickly threw a magical snowball at Superman's cell phone. The phone froze into a block of ice and as it did, the ninja uttered, "I am no ninja, I am Lin Kuei!"

Superman threw the block of ice to the ground in anger. His chiseled face turned into a scowl as he turned his head to the ninja. He then uttered, "Well Lynn, I'm gonna need one of those sacks of money in the bank to pay for a new phone." After a pause and a step forward, he added, "Oh and that ninja in Gotham story I mentioned? I'm not just gonna cover the story, I'm gonna cover the ninja in bruises."

The ninja's blue mask shifted as he spoke and his dead eye looked forward, "Lin Kuei! Lin Kuei! I am Lin Kuei!"

Superman told him, "I'll try to remember."

With a huff of air, Superman created a gust of wind from his mouth that would have made a normal man shiver. Considering the ninja looked to be covered in frost, it was quite pointless.

The ninja's blue cape whipped from the gust, but the ninja merely walked around Superman. Each footstep the ninja took formed ice that adhered his foot to the ground. It was quite obvious he was going no where.

After a few paces, the ninja unfastened the cape from his shoulder plates and the cape blew away in a spiral.

Then, with his stance wide and his feet planted firmly on the snow covered ground, he swirled his arms once again. Clasping his wrists together, the frozen ninja threw his arms forward with his hands open and cried something in his native Japanese language.

A blast of luminescent blue light shot Superman in the center of the red S on his chest. The new suit from Shazam was holding its own. There was no affect to the man of steel. He merely looked down to the blast of blue light and shook his head before he faced the ninja again.

The ninja's aim went upward and a thick wall of ice formed above Superman's head. The wall grew heavy and dropped out of the sky to the man of steel.

With his heat vision, Superman cut the thick ice wall in half and used his fists to shove each half to the side.

Almost with a chuckle, Superman uttered, "Hmph."

Another icy wall fell down upon the man of steel, but as heavy as it was, it was no effort for Superman to catch it and throw it aside. The icy powers of the ninja were no match for the man of steel.

With a look of determination, Superman walked up to the frosty ninja and lifted him up off the ground by his throat. The first question that Superman asked was, "Tell me Lin; what does that mask protect?"

"I am called Sub-Zero," uttered the icy ninja as he held onto Superman's arm. He then coldly informed Superman, "I first wore this mask as my ancestors have. Now I wear it because I have enemies; and many of them."

"You and I both," uttered the man of steel. He then ordered without rage, "I need to find Batman."

An emotionless voice uttered with a plume of mist, "He disappeared with someone." There was an unseen cough of blood beneath Sub-Zero's mask as the ninja's icy voice uttered, "Batman said this job was easy."

After another choke trying to get his breath back, he continued, "He said men dress as scarecrows, jokers and mad hatters." Another choke as Superman lifted him higher, "He never mentioned aliens."

Superman asked, "Did Bane break his back again?" There was no answer and Superman was forced to ask, "Where can I find Robin? He will know where Batman is!"

The ninja was a bit clueless and he questioned, "Robin? Her name is Sonya!"

"Then tell me where she is," said the man of steel. With his eyes glowing red, Superman looked at the ninja's dead eye before he added, "Or I will give you a matching scar to your good eye."

With his cryomancy, the ninja tried to freeze Superman's arm into a block of ice, but with the suit, it was ineffective.

Behind Superman, the screams of police officers could be heard, "Put him down!" There was another officer with a bullhorn that ordered, "This is the GCPD! Drop him!"

The man of steel became distracted when he looked over his shoulder only to get blinded by a giant spotlight attached to a car door. One shaky officer opened fire with his pistol and shot Superman in his beefy shoulder. The bulled ricochet and ended up somewhere else.

This was the distraction that the ninja needed to disappear in a splash of cold water. He literally transformed into icy cold water and splashed onto the ground. Superman merely looked stunned in disbelief. He looked at his wet hand and was unable to comprehend what happened.

Then the officer on the bullhorn yelled, "Fire!" Bullets were sent through the street at Superman's broad body. There were ricochets from off of his body and small sparks that were sent from misses.

The man of steel was blinded by all of the spotlights that were now on him. He shielded his eyes with his forearm. That is when he noticed the ninja rematerialized behind two squad cars side by side that had their doors opened to make a shield. Each car had two officers shaking in their coats with their arms over the open doors shooting at Superman in the street. All of the police cars in Gotham City had a single red light atop of them.

With his arms raised in the air, the ninja made two giant walls of ice form in the air. Then when each wall became heavy enough, they dropped out of the sky and smashed down onto the pair of squad cars that were in front of him.

All four officers were shocked and knocked off their feet from shattering glass and twisted metal. The icy ninja picked up one of the revolvers dropped by an officer. He looked over the metal barrel of the weapon and commented, "Guns cause more crime than they prevent." With the whim of his will, Sub-Zero turned the revolver into a block of ice and let it fall to the snow covered pavement.

The sergeant with the bullhorn looked to the icy ninja and screamed, "Freeze!" as he pointed his standard issue revolver at the assailant.

Instantly, the ninja raised his hands to the air with his elbows bent. There was a smirk in Sub-Zero's mind at the thought, although nothing showed on his masked face. The four police officers near him stood up with their revolvers pointed at the tall ninja. The fourth officer had to pull out a spare revolver from his ankle to point it at the icy ninja.

Superman politely called out, "I thank you for your assistance officers, but please let me handle this."

"Pipe down," yelled the officer with the bullhorn, before he pointed the bullhorn at Superman and said, "You're next!"

One officer readied his handcuffs as he and another went to arrest Sub-Zero. Instead, when they both touched him, they were shocked to discover the ninja's bare arms weren't just cold, they were freezing. An officer yelled out, "He's ice cold!"

More blue ice grew over the hands of both officers. One of the officers tried to use his other hand to pull himself free, but that officer soon had both hands frozen. Before anyone could get them free, both men were covered in ice up to their elbows.

Sub-Zero had a mighty tug of his arms and ripped off the frozen arms of both officers. They were left with red stumps that were covered with ice crystals. There was no emotion on the ninja's frozen face.

Superman shouted, "I thought you were here to save the city!"

"I am," retorted the ninja, "I save this city from guns."

As both officers looked in horror at their stumps, Sub-Zero chopped one in the throat with his hand, and used his right leg to club the other like a bat to the face. The ninja spun around from the roundhouse kick and lowered himself to one knee with his arms out. His icy blue magic flowed from each hand and encaged two more officers in ice. One frozen officer was left looking at his body as it froze. The other was frozen as he pointed his gun to Sub-Zero's face. The officer's finger was frozen along with everything else, preventing him from pulling the trigger.

With a brutal fury, Sub-Zero put his fist through the officer's face and smashed him into a billion pieces. What use to be a man was now ice dust lost in the snow.

The other officer received a brutal fate as well. The ninja lifted him into the air and with a cold, murderous cry he tore the ice statue in half.

A growl tore through the air as Superman flew into Sub-Zero's face. The extended arm and meaty fist collided with Sub-Zero's mask. The ninja flew backward and tumbled to the ground before he stood to one knee and held his face.

The area was clearing of officers that wanted no part of this battle. Two officers hid behind one car and asked their sergeant who was on the radio, "Who ya calling?" In a thick Gotham accent, the sergeant replied, "They're the army's problem now!"

Sub-Zero spotted an officer that was trying to get away. The officer slipped in the snow and the icy ninja took it as a good opportunity to seize the man off the ground. He held the man by the shoulder and at his lower spine near his waist.

The ninja yelled to Superman, "Leave my city now Superman!"

With the bark of his voice, the man of steel cried out, "Let him go!"

Sub-Zero stared at Superman with his dead eye and commented, "This city needs to be saved from itself. The law has caused its crime to justify its existence."

The officer cried out, "I have a family! Help me Superman!" The officer had blue eyes, dark hair and a thin, young face.

Superman shouted, "You've lost your humanity!"

Sub-Zero uttered without emotion, "I never had it!" His hand then froze into the back of the officer's coat.

With his eyes red and glowing, the man of steel leaned forward and flung his arms back. A blast of heat vision was sent to Sub-Zero like a pair of lasers, but it was already too late, the ninja had already pulled out the man's spine and detached his head from his body. The head and spine were thrown to the ground before Sub-Zero was blast in the chest by a pair of red eye beams.

An angry growl could be heard from Superman as he plodded forward through the snow and battered his shoulder into the ninja. He took Sub-Zero off the snow covered ground and smashed him through a wall of the building behind him, one wall, two walls, three walls, four walls, enough walls until they came out the other side. Sub-Zero's back took the brunt of the entire thing.

Superman heaved Sub-Zero's lifeless body off of his shoulder. The ninja laid on the snow covered back alley with no plume of frozen air from his body. Superman looked as if he had won the battle and stood over a corpse. There was frozen blood on Sub-Zero's tattered ninja garb.

The man of steel continued to look down upon his opponent and shouted as if he were in agony. He called out to the heavens, "Why am I here? I should be in Eden with Princess Diana!" He paced in the snow with his red cape licking the snow. Superman merely shook his head and wondered, "How could Batman let this happen?"

Superman then heard the sound of metal from above him. He first looked up, and then he looked to Sub-Zero. The body was gone, and it was on its way up the side of a building via the fire escape.

With a mighty umph, Superman lifted his body off the ground into flight. He quickly caught up with Sub-Zero who still continued to rush up the side of an apartment building. There were falling frozen plants, and eventually Superman charged up to the top of the building.

It was obvious Superman was the first to reach the top. He was waiting in a shadow for Sub-Zero. With his arms folded, the man of steel calmly spewed out, "The only thing that means anything to me is Princess Diana, and only Batman can take me to her."

"Love," said Sub-Zero as he shook his head, "It is such a warm emotion."

The man of steel cracked his neck and wondered, "And you wouldn't know anything about that would you?"

Sub-Zero informed him, "My brother was killed and his dark soul haunts me." He took a step forward with his fist clenched and ended his speech, "Having no emotion is what kept me from crying myself to sleep each night."

"My whole world was destroyed," explained Superman, before he added, "But you do not see me going all emo about it."

The blue eye of Sub-Zero glared at the man of steel, before Superman used his super breath to suck in the icy ninja closer. Sub-Zero's arms flailed as he was caught off guard and Superman grabbed his blue tunic.

Spotlights suddenly were on them from above. They were big spotlights that shined down from a pair of blimps. Each blimp had the word, "POLICE" in big black letters on the side. A loudspeaker sounded, "This is the GCPD, remain where you are!"

From a distance, a cat perked up at the sound of the loudspeaker. It was a black cat, followed by the perking of another cat's head. This was a much bigger cat's head. In fact it wasn't a real cat; it was a woman with short pointed ears that went up from her head.

In the clutches of Superman, the icy ninja tried to bargain with him, "I will help you find Batman and your princess."

Superman had a grim frown on his face as he said, "I need to save this city from you."

With his fist clinched and his arm drawn back, the man of steel decked Sub-Zero off the roof of an apartment building and through the wall of a high rise. Superman stayed there with his cape whipping to the right. His brow was dark and his eyes were red with heat vision as he waited for any sign of life.

There were screams that came from the other building and soon enough a shadowy figure appeared from the hole in the wall.

The man of steel charged off the roof of the building across the alley to the other building. His cape whipped in the wind and just as he was about to get Sub-Zero in his clutches, the ninja fell backward to the floor and turned into a giant splash of water.

He was gone again, through the floor possibly. Superman wondered where he could have gone, but he used his X-ray vision. With the amazing vision he could see through brick walls, pipes, curtains and doors. He could see all of the residents as skeletons with outlines surrounding them. There were clusters of citizens huddled in corners from the sirens, gunshots, and sheer terror that the night had brought.

One thing there wasn't, was a ninja. Superman's head panned around the entire building, but little did he realize the dark figure stood behind him. An arm grabbed around Superman's neck and the other hand began to pound his face.

With a single arm, Superman tore Sub-Zero's grasp from off of him and tossed the ninja to the floor near the hole in the wall.

The ninja took a running leap out of the wall and across the gap to the roof of the next building. Sub-Zero was lucky to grab the fire escape; he couldn't quite make it across. There was a bang and a metallic ringing sound from the vibration of his cold body.

There were spotlights on the frozen ninja once again. More spotlights were on the opening in the wall of the high rise.

Superman flew across the gap over the alley as Sub-Zero took off running across the apartment building. The icy ninja came to the edge of the roof and that didn't stop him. He heaved his body in a long jump to the next building.

The man of steel was quick to follow him with his flight ability. Sub-Zero leapt from another building, and another. There were spotlights on both men following them.

At the third building, Superman caught up to him, but Sub-Zero was at one end and Superman was at the other. The ninja stopped at the edge to look for the next building, but there weren't any. They were on an abandon warehouse at the Gotham City docks, the next place to leap to would be a crane.

In the distance, a shadowy figure clung onto a wall and stayed close to it. The only thing noticeable about the figure was a small tail that waved back and forth as a cat purred.

Sub-Zero took off running on the top of the building for the nearest crane. Superman had an easy idea to catch the ninja. He leapt into the air and drove his fist down into the roof of the building. It sent out a shockwave that rippled through the air.

The impact was enough to knock the ninja off his feet. It was more than enough. The building began to tremble. It was already abandon due to the construction company skipping building codes to save money. The building began to shudder and shake as the inside collapsed in on itself.

The roof was the next thing to go and Sub-Zero fell in it. A good portion of the building had collapsed in with the ninja. Superman merely hovered above the destruction and dust that erupted from the building.

Using his X-ray vision, Superman could see through the grey dust to Sub-Zero's arm. He was buried in the rubble. Then with his super breath, Superman blew aside the puff of dust that had engulfed the area.

Once the cloud of dust was gone, Superman descended down to the area and gently touched his feet down to the rubble. Without much effort, the man of steel was able to pull the rubble off of Sub-Zero to reveal the ninja's bloody body. He was still alive, but barely. There was a minimal fog that came from Sub-Zero's mask, because he was barely breathing.

Spotlights searched the rubble as Superman looked up to the pair of blimps overhead.

Superman stood tall and said, "I have saved the city once again." Then he looked around and uttered, "Even if it was not my city to save." After that was said, he looked to his new super suit and dusted it off as he looked for any injuries. He then thought, "Well at least the suit works here, but why didn't it work back in Metropolis."

Without warning, two metallic spheres were thrown into the rubble at Superman's feet. He heard them clack together and looked down to them. A hissing sound soon followed as green gas streamed from three vents in each dark metallic sphere.

The man of steel shook his head and quipped, "It never ends." He then used his super breath to blow the stream of green gas away from him. Once the gas had completely ran out, he stopped using his super powers.

He looked around to the shadows, unable to see anything. Then he called out, "Whatever sinister plan this was did not work."

A mysterious figure in black stepped into the light behind Superman and jammed him in the ribs with something. A seductive voice whispered in his ear, "Plan B." He could hear the wind from her lips tickle him.

The crimson caped superhero fell to his hands and knees while the figure was revealed in the spotlight. She uttered, "Kryptonite claws." The figure dropped another pair of metallic spheres for Superman. The green gas swelled in his lungs as the woman stood over the two downed masculine men and commented with a sultry voice, "Leave it to a pair of men to destroy a city block."

Superman's face hit the rock as the figure cleaned her claws. Atop her mystery woman's shoulder was a thin black cat that was enjoying a fuzzy padded shoulder that smelled of catnip. The mystery woman chuckled, "And they would fall asleep right after the action and leave a woman to clean it up."


End file.
